"Comprehensive Real Estate Tax, Must Cooperate" vs "Should Not Be Overly Greedy"... Tension at First Meeting Between Kwon Seong-dong and Lee Jae-myung

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Lee Jae-myung, the newly appointed leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is having a cordial conversation with Kwon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, at the National Assembly on the 31st. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, engaged in a tense exchange mentioning the revision of the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act and the government’s announced budget during his first meeting with Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party and acting party leader, after his election.

On the 31st, Lee visited Kwon’s office as floor leader of the People Power Party. Before the private meeting, Kwon congratulated Lee on his election and said, "As Lee mentioned, I think the ruling and opposition parties need to put their heads together and cooperate to solve livelihood issues. Isn’t the ruling party in Yeouido the Democratic Party? With a massive 169 seats, no bills or budgets can be processed without the Democratic Party’s cooperation."

He added, "In that regard, there were many common pledges during the last presidential election. The efforts of both parties to legislate the common pledges between the two candidates should be accelerated."

In response, Lee said, "We will naturally cooperate with the government and ruling party’s policies for the people, and if there is anything delayed or not done, we are willing to propose it first. Regarding the common pledges mentioned by Floor Leader Kwon, as we have publicly stated several times, we hope to establish a joint task force between the ruling and opposition parties to swiftly and substantively fulfill the promises made to the people."

However, when Kwon mentioned the ongoing negotiations on the revision of the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act, the atmosphere shifted. He said, "During the campaign, I promised to ease the comprehensive real estate tax for owners of two homes, and negotiations are underway. I expect the ruling and opposition parties to be great partners who compete for the people while cooperating where necessary, and I hope we do politics well together."

Lee replied, "Regarding the comprehensive real estate tax issue, I have advised the party to take a cooperative stance as much as possible," but also cautioned, "However, please do not have excessive greed."

Lee Jae-myung, the newly appointed leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is having a cordial conversation with Kwon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, at the National Assembly on the 31st. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

He also criticized the government’s announced budget, saying, "I saw that the budget for permanent rental housing was cut this time, but if that happens, there will be nowhere to go." Regarding the local currency budget, he urged, "The local currency budget, which greatly helps small business owners and neighborhood markets, was completely cut. Please discuss this."

Kwon responded, "If the opposition raises issues during the National Assembly’s deliberation process, we will try to address them. However, whether following the Democratic Party’s policies is effective or whether the Yoon Seok-yeol government and People Power Party’s approach ultimately helps requires more intense debate and argument."

The two held a private meeting for about 20 minutes. After the meeting, Democratic Party spokesperson Lee Su-jin told reporters, "It was not an in-depth discussion but rather an exchange of pleasantries. The two are alumni of Chung-Ang University and studied together in the exam preparation class."

She also explained, "Kim Seok-ki, secretary-general of the People Power Party, brought up that there are issues to resolve regarding overseas Koreans related to the common pledges, and Lee mentioned that issues related to the elderly basic pension should be addressed."

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