Ruling and Opposition Clash in Major Government Questioning: "Moon Administration's Economic Disaster" vs. "Yoon Administration's Tax Cuts for the Wealthy"

People Power Party Criticizes 52-Hour Workweek and Real Estate Policies
Democratic and Justice Parties Launch 'Offensive' on Next Year's Budget Bill

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 21st, the ruling and opposition parties sharpened their rhetoric by mentioning the failures of the Moon Jae-in administration and the Yoon Suk-yeol administration respectively, regarding various economic issues.

Seo Il-jun, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out during the National Assembly's economic sector questioning session that the introduction of the 52-hour workweek system by the Moon Jae-in administration led to a decrease in employment and an increase in irregular workers, calling it "an economic disaster in five years" and "a completely failed economic policy." Bae Jun-young of the People Power Party criticized, "The Democratic Party administration doubled apartment prices in Seoul with 28 wrong real estate policies," adding, "They raised the comprehensive real estate tax payers by 2.5 times and taxes by 4.3 times in an extortionate manner, and recklessly increased the national debt by 400 trillion won through budget overspending."

Hong Seok-jun of the People Power Party criticized, "Due to anti-business regulatory policies, the overseas departure of our companies has surged, resulting in nearly double the net overseas departure during the Moon Jae-in administration compared to any previous government, including the Park Geun-hye administration." During a query about mergers and acquisitions (M&A) between companies, Hong mentioned suspicions that Ssangbangwool Group was acquired with gangster funds, stating, "The most famous company in Korea right now is 'Ssangbangwool.' Lee Jae-myung, the representative related to Ssangbangwool, is under multiple investigations or prosecutions by the prosecution."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The opposition party launched an offensive against the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's corporate tax cut policy and next year's budget proposal. Kim Soo-heung of the Democratic Party said, "The Yoon Suk-yeol administration's economic policy is just one thing: to create a virtuous cycle of growth by attracting large corporate investment through tax cuts for the rich and deregulation, which is an overly simplistic logic," adding, "The public is saying that tax cuts for the rich are wrong, but the Yoon administration is going in the opposite direction."

Lee Dong-joo of the Democratic Party criticized the complete cut of the local love currency budget in next year's budget, saying, "Local love gift certificates are not a cash handout policy but a project that circulates the local economy," and added, "We need to develop the system comprehensively considering the economic ripple effects of local love gift certificates as well as the policy aspects of supporting small business owners and revitalizing the local economy."

Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party pointed out, "The public rental housing budget was cut by 28.2% compared to last year," and criticized, "They cut the comprehensive real estate tax in a flash, supported loans for homebuyers, but cut 5.7 trillion won for housing vulnerable groups."

The controversy over the Yeongbingwan new construction budget appeared for the third consecutive day. Kim Soo-heung of the Democratic Party questioned Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Choo Kyung-ho about the inclusion of the 87.8 billion won budget, criticizing, "If this budget was not reported to President Yoon Suk-yeol, it is dereliction of duty." In response, Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "(The Yeongbingwan new construction) was officially proposed by the Presidential Secretariat, and after internal practical review and related procedures within the Ministry of Economy and Finance, it was reflected in the National Assembly budget proposal," adding, "Just because it is the Presidential Office budget does not mean that every individual project is reported and proceeded with."

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