"Ants Burning Inside"... Netizens Debate Over Hong Nam-gi's Resignation Rejection

Deputy Prime Minister Hong Submits Resignation to President Moon on the 3rd
President Moon Immediately Rejects and Reaffirms Trust

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki is leaving the meeting room after the full session of the Planning and Finance Committee held at the National Assembly on the 3rd, responding to questions from the press. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki tendered his resignation to President Moon Jae-in on the 3rd but was reaffirmed in his position. Previously, Deputy Prime Minister Hong had shown differences in opinion with the ruling party regarding the major shareholder threshold for imposing capital gains tax on stocks.

On the morning of the same day, immediately after the Cabinet meeting, Hong submitted his resignation letter to President Moon. At the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee session that day, Hong stated, "The major shareholder threshold remains at 1 billion KRW as it is," adding, "I felt the need to take responsibility for the two months of debate, so I took responsibility for maintaining the current standard and submitted my resignation along with my expression of intention to resign today."

However, according to multiple media reports on the same day, President Moon immediately rejected Hong's resignation and reaffirmed his trust in him.

Public opinion was divided over this decision. A netizen who posted on a stock-related community said, "They said they sympathize with revitalizing the stock market, so why is Deputy Prime Minister Hong being reaffirmed?" and added, "I don't know if they want to see investors suffer." Another netizen expressed dissatisfaction, saying, "He is someone who submitted a resignation after pushing wrong policies in various economic areas such as real estate and stocks," and questioned, "Why call him back again?"

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, is listening to questions at the plenary meeting of the Planning and Finance Committee held at the National Assembly on the 3rd. / Photo by Yonhap News

On the other hand, some pointed out that it is risky to hastily change the head of the economy while the national economy is in crisis. One netizen argued, "What is important now is for the economic control tower to maintain consistency and reduce uncertainty as much as possible." Another netizen sent encouragement, saying, "(Deputy Prime Minister Hong) is one of the most burdened people in South Korea right now," and urged, "Please endure for the people."

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Hong had conflicts with the ruling party and individual investors over the plan to strengthen the major shareholder threshold for capital gains tax on stocks from the current 1 billion KRW to 300 million KRW starting next April.

Regarding this, Hong emphasized at the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee comprehensive audit on the 22nd of last month, "The plan to strengthen the major shareholder threshold from 1 billion KRW to 300 million KRW was already revised in the enforcement decree two and a half years ago. We have no choice but to proceed as is." However, he added, "We are preparing to switch from family aggregation to individual aggregation."

However, the ruling party showed a difference in stance by insisting on a two-year postponement of the enforcement decree that strengthens the major shareholder threshold.

Subsequently, many individual investors also showed opposition to the enforcement decree. On the 5th of last month, a petition titled "Request to dismiss Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki" was posted on the Blue House's petition board.

The petitioner urged the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister Hong, stating, "Despite the difficult economic situation, Donghak Ants are participating in stocks and the KOSPI is maintaining an upward trend, but the Minister of Economy and Finance insists on the unreasonable 300 million KRW major shareholder rule." The petition received over 240,000 endorsements by the afternoon of the 3rd.

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