Following Quarantine, Moon Focuses on Economy... Requests Cooperation for Passing 556 Trillion Won Budget

President Moon Jae-in is delivering the 2021 budget address at the National Assembly plenary session on the 28th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in, in his policy speech at the National Assembly on the 28th, expressed his determination to more vigorously promote the 'Korean New Deal' to revitalize the economy and requested the National Assembly's cooperation for the passage of next year's budget to leap forward as a leading country. He also showed his intention to curb real estate speculation and stabilize the jeonse market.

In his morning policy speech at the National Assembly, President Moon emphasized the need for 'the simultaneous success of quarantine and economy,' saying, "Now is the time to achieve definite stability in quarantine and a definite rebound in the economy." He expressed his will to achieve economic growth while maintaining COVID-19 quarantine rules based on mature civic awareness.

President Moon praised Korea's economic performance, saying, "Having overcome the slump of negative growth in the first and second quarters, the growth rate finally rebounded to positive in the third quarter," and "Among OECD countries, Korea is expected to have the highest economic growth rate, and international credit rating agencies consistently forecast Korea's credit rating as stable." He also cited the National Assembly's swift execution of an additional supplementary budget amounting to 67 trillion won last year as a background for this.

President Moon plans to take full-scale economic revitalization measures, including vigorously promoting the Korean New Deal from next year. To this end, he requested the National Assembly to pass the largest-ever budget of 556 trillion won. However, he also made remarks that seemed to be aware of concerns raised by some opposition parties regarding fiscal soundness. President Moon emphasized, "While the expansion budget increased by 8.5% based on the main budget, including the supplementary budget, it increased by only 0.2%, and mid- to long-term fiscal soundness was also considered. We will simultaneously carry out painful expenditure restructuring."

Regarding real estate policy, which is pointed out as an 'Achilles' heel,' President Moon showed a firm will. He said, "The government's determination to stabilize the real estate market, protect actual demanders, and curb speculation is firm," and added, "We will early stabilize the lease system by settling the three lease laws and supply high-quality medium-sized public rental apartments to stabilize the jeonse market at all costs."

He cited jobs as the top priority task for economic recovery. First, through ▲employment retention subsidies ▲private job creation, 1.03 million jobs will be maintained and expanded. He also revealed his ambition to invest 160 trillion won in the Korean New Deal, including the Digital and Green New Deals. While leveraging strengths in the digital sector to leap forward as a leading country, he also presented a direction to promote energy transition policies responding to climate change.

President Moon emphasized, "In difficult times, we must look to the future," and said, "The Korean New Deal is a national transformation project to advance as a leading country." He also expressed his intention to implement a national balanced development policy that includes regional balanced development through the Korean New Deal. For future growth engines, he plans to focus investment on three new industries: system semiconductors, future cars, and bio-health. Meanwhile, regarding core materials, parts, and equipment projects, President Moon stated, "We will surpass Japan and expand globally," and added, "Support will be expanded from 100 major items related to Japan to 338 global items."

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