[2020 National Audit] Lee Jae-myung's Heated Debate Over 'National Debt Ratio'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] On the 20th, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party lawmaker Song Eon-seok engaged in a heated debate over the 'national debt ratio' during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit of Gyeonggi Province held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office.

The first move was made by Lawmaker Song.

Song asked, "Recently, I saw that you posted something on Facebook regarding the national debt ratio. Governor Lee Jae-myung, do you think that our country's national debt ratio is very low compared to the OECD average?"

In response, Governor Lee said, "I think it is generally lower compared to other countries."

Then Song pointed out, "Governor, you mentioned that the OECD average debt ratio is 109%, but that is not an accurate statement at all. If you average the national debt ratios by country, it is around 80%."

Governor Lee's counterattack was also strong.

He said, "Statistics can be manipulated depending on the perspective, and the statistical data you just showed is not a fact. What I can clearly say is that our country's debt ratio is lower than the OECD average."

He continued, "Our country's household debt ratio is the highest in the world, and the reason is that the government provides too little support to individuals. While the national debt ratio may be stable, the people are poor and the country's debt ratio appears low. Therefore, even if some national debt increases, spending like the recent disaster relief payments is not problematic. This is the point I was trying to make."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.