Lee Jae-myung: "COVID-19 National Spending Is Minimal... Reducing National Debt by Shifting Household Debt"

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering a speech at the National Election Committee with Small Business Owners held at the Central Party Office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 6th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the financial authorities again on the 6th, saying, "The government's national expenditure related to COVID-19 is really negligible," and "The government did not fulfill its responsibility and burdened the people with 100 trillion won in quarantine costs." This is interpreted as a move to empower livelihoods by calling once again for active fiscal policy amid growing difficulties for small business owners due to the spread of Omicron, including COVID-19.

On the morning of the same day, Lee said at the nationwide presidential campaign committee meeting with small business owners at the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, "Since the beginning of COVID-19, I believe the sacrifice and dedication of small business owners, who belong to the vulnerable group, have been the greatest driving force. This time, I think the government's role should be strengthened more."

Lee presented a panel showing the figure "45.7% national debt-to-GDP ratio" and said, "(Compared to Japan and the United States) the amount of direct cash support is really ridiculously small," adding, "It is really negligible, and the government is not fulfilling its responsibility." He also said, "Even if the national debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds 100%, it does not cause any particular problem," and criticized, "What is the meaning of maintaining this number? The policy is to shift the cost of maintaining the national economy to households and small business owners while keeping the national debt ratio below 50%." Lee also urged the party leadership, saying, "If you want to support after becoming president, you have to allocate it in this budget," and requested, "I ask the party and government to take the lead in discussing measures that can be supported immediately."

The Democratic Party will hold a policy meeting with lawmakers at 2 p.m. on the same day to decide whether to adopt as party positions the improvement of parliamentary immunity, the law to recover funds from Chun Doo-hwan, the farmland speculation prevention law, and the real estate development profit recovery law. These bills are reform tasks that Lee selected at the livelihood and reform legislative promotion meeting on the 24th of last month. The Democratic Party plans to make every effort to pass the bills before the regular session ends on the 9th, and if not possible, convene a special session in December.

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