Criticism from senior lawmakers that "national debt increase was tolerated"... Kim Jong-in says "special situation, no problem" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Lim Chun-han] On the 2nd, regarding the 2021 budget bill scheduled to be passed at the plenary session, senior members of the People Power Party criticized it, saying "It means we have tolerated the increase in national debt," to which Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in explained that there is no significant problem, citing the "special situation of the COVID-19 crisis."

Chairman Kim met with reporters after the joint meeting of the Emergency Committee and senior lawmakers held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 2nd and said, "Generally, it might be hard to understand why the opposition party would agree, but this time, due to the special situation of the COVID-19 crisis, the budget increased by about 2 trillion won, which itself is not a big problem."

Floor Leader Joo Ho-young said, "We are also aware of the problem (increase in national debt)," adding, "It is an area where lawmakers have collectively considered fiscal soundness." This implies that they fully recognize the issues of increasing national debt and fiscal soundness.

At the joint meeting of senior lawmakers that day, Seo Byung-soo, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out the issue of increasing national debt, saying, "Looking at the result of the budget agreement, I wonder if our people will truly understand the People Power Party."

He said, "The total budget agreed upon by the ruling and opposition parties this time is 558 trillion won, which is more than the originally submitted government budget (556 trillion won) and 44 trillion won more than the 2020 budget," adding, "It is a budget for debt-driven growth under the Moon administration and can be called a future exploitation budget, yet during the National Assembly review process, it was increased by another 2 trillion won."

Seo criticized, "This is the first time in 11 years that the National Assembly has increased the government budget, and moreover, the net increase of 2.2 trillion won this time will be covered by issuing government bonds," saying, "It means we have tolerated the increase in national debt."

He expressed concern, saying, "The attitude of 'it can't be helped' or 'this much is enough' may make the party appear to the public as being stuck in a rut," and added, "If this continues, I worry whether we can gain the trust of the people in next year's by-elections and the presidential election the year after."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Representative Hong Moon-pyo also pointed out, "In conclusion, this government is indiscriminately imposing a tax bomb, and I am worried that our People Power Party might become a party that condones this," adding, "Yesterday, we passed it as a whole."

He said, "The original strategy and focus is that about 60% of the policies or proposals discussed within each party or by lawmakers should be minimally reflected for the budget to pass," adding, "Since we passed it as a whole, there is no justification to argue over details, and the real issue is how we will smoothly handle this problem, which will ultimately be passed on to the people as taxes."

Representative Hong added, "I understand that the Democratic Party of Korea is putting up banners in each region, anticipating that the budget will be passed today," and said, "We should also have countermeasures for this."

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