Lee Jae-myung Tried to Showcase 'Competence' Through Supplementary Budget... Yoon Seok-yeol Emphasized the Role of the State

Keywords on Presidential Candidates' COVID-19 Measures Revealed in Election Debate
Lee Jae-myung Showcased 'Capability' Through Supplementary Budget
Yoon Seok-youl Emphasized 'Role of the State' and Mentioned Fiscal Soundness
Sim Sang-jung Addressed Specific Issues Like Small Business Loan Maturity Extensions
Ahn Cheol-soo Presented COVID-19 Financial Measures via Special Accounts

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Major presidential candidates presented different COVID-19 response measures during the TV debate on the 21st. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, emphasized strengthening the supplementary budget, while Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party focused on protecting the impoverished. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party highlighted the establishment of a special account and the resolution of inequality, respectively.

In the first TV debate hosted by the Central Election Commission, which covered economic issues, candidate Lee stated, "The state must take full responsibility for protecting the lives of our citizens from infectious diseases, but unfortunately, small business owners and self-employed individuals have borne much of this burden." He discussed compensation through supplementary budgets and emergency financial command authority. Lee’s emphasis on the supplementary budget appears to be a strategic move to link the Democratic Party’s leadership in passing a supplementary budget worth 16.9 trillion won amid a deadlock in the review process to his own ‘capability,’ highlighting that he would boldly pursue follow-up measures.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Candidate Yoon said, "The first duty of the state is to protect the impoverished," but also mentioned, "If we do not properly protect the impoverished now, enormous welfare expenses will follow later." Regarding the roles of the state and the market, Yoon has expressed the view that while the market’s dynamism should be preserved, the state must address the inequality that results. He emphasized that the current COVID-19 crisis is a time when the state must step in. However, Yoon raised concerns about ‘fiscal soundness,’ stating, "Once this passes, I think we need to quickly reduce discretionary spending to secure soundness."

Sim Sang-jung, leader of the Justice Party, focused on concrete issues alongside discourse on resolving inequality. Regarding COVID-19, she proposed specific measures such as ‘extension of loan maturities provided to small business owners,’ ‘establishment of a special track for debt adjustment,’ and ‘introduction of a price-linked delivery unit price system,’ seeking agreement from competing candidates.

Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party presidential candidate, pointed out issues such as the need for increased fiscal spending including compensation amid global tightening trends like interest rate hikes, emphasizing the ‘COVID-19 Special Account.’ Earlier, Ahn proposed a special account based on 10% of value-added tax and 10% of individual consumption tax as basic revenue sources in his presidential pledge. He stressed that responding to COVID-19 by restructuring the government’s revenue and expenditure system would enable effective response without increasing debt.

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