With "Budget Hostage Lee Jae-myung Judicial Risk Diversion" Continuous Offensive

Jung Jin-seok "Agreement Must Be Reached Before the 9th to Ensure Smooth Support for Vulnerable Groups"
Joo Ho-young "Yoon Seok-yeol Government Tightens Belt for Sound Fiscal Management"

Jin Jeong-seok, Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, and Joo Ho-young, Floor Leader, are attending the Emergency Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 8th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Kum Boryeong, Kwon Hyunji] The People Power Party launched a full-scale offensive on the 8th, blaming the Democratic Party of Korea for the delay in processing next year's budget bill.

On the morning of the 8th, at an emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly, Jeong Jin-seok, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, criticized, "The Democratic Party is pushing for the dismissal of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min by holding next year's budget bill hostage," adding, "Economic agents are anxiously waiting for the National Assembly to process next year's budget bill today or tomorrow, but the budget bill is being muddied by Lee Jae-myung's business risks and political strife is being expanded and reproduced."

The Democratic Party held a party meeting the day before and decided to report the dismissal motion against Minister Lee at the plenary session held in the afternoon of the 8th and process it on the 9th. Chairman Jeong emphasized, "The agreement between the ruling and opposition parties to first process next year's budget bill and then conduct a state audit on the Itaewon disaster is not even dry ink yet," adding, "We will do everything possible to pass the new year's budget bill today or tomorrow."

Floor leader Joo Ho-young also shifted responsibility to the Democratic Party at this meeting, saying, "Tomorrow is the closing day of the regular National Assembly session, but there is still a considerable gap, so I am very worried." Floor leader Joo particularly emphasized 'sound fiscal management.' He said, "During the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration, the average budget cut in the National Assembly was 5.1 trillion won, so they are demanding even greater cuts this time," adding, "However, the government itself has restructured spending by 24 trillion won this year for fiscal soundness, and due to the regulation that 40% of national taxes must be allocated as local grants, 22 trillion won must be mandatorily given to local governments this year."

He continued, "In the past five years, fiscal management was reckless, and national debt is about to exceed 50% of GDP, but the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is tightening its belt to create sound fiscal management despite various difficulties," adding, "Everyone knows that sound fiscal policies are not immediately popular with the public, but we are reducing spending out of concern for the national economy. However, the Democratic Party is not reflecting on the reckless budget during their administration but is instead proposing to continue such policies."

Floor leader Joo also raised critical voices regarding the supplementary budget bills such as the comprehensive real estate tax and corporate tax law amendments. He said, "During the Moon Jae-in administration, the corporate tax rate was raised from 22% to 25%, but Taiwan's corporate tax is only 20%, putting our country at a disadvantage in attracting investments including semiconductors," adding, "The comprehensive real estate tax unfairly taxes people who own just one house, turning them all into ultra-wealthy individuals, but the number itself is 1.22 million. Are there really 1.22 million ultra-wealthy people in our country?"

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