Yoon "Abolish Capital Gains Tax on Stocks" vs Lee "Oppose Tax Cuts for the Wealthy"... Clash of 'One-Line Pledges'

"Protect Small Investors" vs "Full Tax Exemption for the Wealthy?" Heated Debate Between Ruling and Opposition Parties

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, posted a one-line pledge "Abolish Capital Gains Tax on Stocks" on his Facebook. / Photo by Facebook capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The competition between the ruling and opposition parties' presidential candidates over 'one-line pledges' is intensifying. When Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, made a bold move with the message "Abolish capital gains tax on stock transfers," Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, responded with the message "Oppose tax cuts for the wealthy."

On the 27th, Candidate Yoon posted a one-line message saying "Abolish capital gains tax on stock transfers" on his Facebook page.

Under current law, taxes on capital gains from stock transfers are imposed on ▲major shareholders holding more than 1 billion KRW per stock or more than 1% stake ▲transactions of unlisted stocks ▲and over-the-counter transactions of listed stocks.

The government plans to fully implement taxation on financial investment income starting January 2023. Accordingly, not only major shareholders but also individual investors will be taxed 20% on capital gains up to 300 million KRW and 25% on gains exceeding 300 million KRW if their annual capital gains exceed 50 million KRW.

The pledge announced by Candidate Yoon essentially aims to nullify all these plans.

In this regard, Won Hee-ryong, head of the People Power Party's policy headquarters, explained at a joint meeting of the election headquarters and the party leadership held at the National Assembly on the same day, "Candidate Yoon will abolish capital gains tax entirely to foster Korea's stock market, overcome the Korea discount, and protect Korea's retail investors who place their dreams of asset formation in the stock market."

He added about domestic stock investors, "The young generation and the 40s and 50s Donghak ants are losing sleep as the U.S. stock market plummets," and "Due to soaring real estate prices, they have lost hope of owning a home, and in this low-interest era, they cannot build assets through savings."

Regarding Yoon's pledge, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, posted the message "Opposition to tax cuts for the wealthy." / Photo by Facebook capture

However, Candidate Lee responded on Facebook with the one-line message "Oppose tax cuts for the wealthy." This is interpreted as a critique that abolishing capital gains tax on stock transfers entirely could benefit not only small investors but also the wealthy more significantly.

Criticism also arose within the ruling party. Choi Ji-eun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said on the same day, "While claiming to protect retail investors by abolishing capital gains tax on stock transfers, the policy actually proposes full tax exemption for major shareholder transactions," and criticized, "If Candidate Yoon truly wants to solve the problems of retail investors, he should first identify the issues properly and supplement countermeasures, rather than focusing solely on facilitating wealth inheritance for major shareholders and stock-rich individuals."

She added, "Especially at a time when succession work is underway for large conglomerate families classified as chaebols," and pointed out, "I worry whether fairness and common sense will be ignored under Candidate Yoon's vision for national governance."

Former lawmaker Chae E-bae, who joined the Democratic Party's election committee as chairman of the Fair Market Committee, also criticized on Facebook, saying, "Is Candidate Yoon's principle of state operation unfairness and lack of common sense?"

He said, "He wants to abolish the comprehensive real estate tax, securities transaction tax, capital gains tax on stock transfers, and who knows what other taxes," adding, "It might be his goal to create a country only for the wealthy by eliminating direct taxes and raising indirect taxes. I worry that Korea will become an unfair and unreasonable country without fairness and common sense."

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