Park Yong-jin, Who Promised 'Tax Cuts,' Says "Corporate and Income Taxes Must Be Reduced for Job Creation and Workers"

Leading Presidential Candidate Park Yong-jin
Expanding Investment Through Corporate Tax Cuts
Reducing Income Tax to Strengthen the Middle Class

Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who declared his candidacy for the presidential election, is holding a policy-related press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 10th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] On the 27th, Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who announced his candidacy for the presidential election, proposed corporate tax and income tax cuts as measures to expand employment, investment, and job creation by companies.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Office that morning, Park said, "Simultaneous cuts in corporate tax and income tax will be a small investment for the growth and future of South Korea," and emphasized, "We will carefully prepare policies to ensure that the effects of corporate tax cuts lead to a virtuous cycle of increased investment, expanded employment, increased dividends, and wage growth."

Park stated, "We will establish various incentive systems simultaneously so that corporate tax cuts do not simply accumulate as corporate reserves or go to performance bonuses for top executives," adding, "Corporate tax cuts will increase domestic investment by foreign capital, expand reshoring of manufacturing companies currently overseas such as in China, and induce domestic investment by Korean companies considering overseas investment, thereby contributing to overall investment attraction and job creation." Regarding income tax cuts, he said, "We will strengthen the working people and the middle class so that ordinary citizens receive the greatest benefits."

He continued, "We will boldly dismantle the three major regulations in our society: bureaucratic stamp regulations, entry barriers imposed by existing dominant businesses, and market monopoly regulations such as large corporations' abuse of power, and build a highway for innovation," promising, "The Park Yong-jin administration will create an economic ecosystem in South Korea that is a country of startups, full of innovation and the spirit of challenge."

Regarding why he, as a Democratic Party presidential candidate, proposed tax cut policies, Park explained, "I do not think that tax increases are a progressive agenda and tax cuts are a conservative agenda," adding, "Both tax increases and tax cuts are policies the government can adopt depending on companies, markets, and economic conditions. There were corporate and income tax cuts during the administrations of former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun as well."

On concerns about reduced tax revenue, he responded, "Tax revenue will increase through a virtuous cycle of economic growth and job creation," and said, "What is important is how the economy grows and the state increases its income in the long term, so that welfare policies can be strengthened with that."

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