Prime Minister Kim Halts 'Lee Jae-myung's' Disaster Relief Fund Controversy: "No Fiscal Capacity"

Regarding the Movement to 'Postpone Virtual Asset Taxation': "Don't Pass It to the Government, Discuss It in the National Assembly"

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said on the 3rd regarding Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate's claim for 'universal disaster relief payments' that "there is currently no immediate financial capacity."

In an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the morning of the same day, Prime Minister Kim said, "For the government, rather than that method, the most urgent issue is how to help the approximately 2.5 to 3 million small business owners and self-employed people who have suffered cumulative damage for over a year and a half and cannot be assisted even under the Loss Compensation Act." He emphasized support through a 'selective' approach focusing on those who have actually been affected, rather than a 'universal' approach of providing cash to the entire population.

Prime Minister Kim defined Lee's claim for disaster relief payments as a "political pledge" and dismissed it by saying, "The government has nothing to say about candidate pledges." However, he added, "It's not a situation where money comes out by rummaging through this pocket and that pocket," and "The National Assembly will review next year's budget, and there will be no additional supplementary budget this year, with only two months left for this year's budget execution."

Regarding the ruling Democratic Party's push by Lee's close aides to postpone taxation on virtual assets, Prime Minister Kim expressed a negative stance, saying, "'Taxation where there is income' has been stated for a long time, and if there is profit from securities trading, isn't it taxed?"

Under the current Income Tax Act, taxation on profits related to virtual assets will be applied from January 1 next year. The government also intends to proceed with taxation as scheduled, but the ruling party has proposed postponing it for another year ahead of the election. This requires immediate legislative amendment.

Prime Minister Kim said, "If a tax deferral is necessary, the National Assembly should discuss and decide. Stop passing the responsibility to the government," and added, "Since this is a matter of changing the law, if the National Assembly decides, the government has no choice but to comply."

Since the ruling party's push for virtual asset tax deferral is interpreted as aiming for the votes of the 20s and 30s generation ahead of the presidential election in March next year, the opposition party is expected to oppose it as a 'vote-buying act.' However, there is also a forecast that the opposition party will find it difficult to actively voice opposition since they also need votes.

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