Kim Ki-hyun "Excessive Taxation, Economic Isolation Policy"... Push for Corporate Tax Reduction

Proposal for Lee Jae-myung's Immunity from Arrest Signature
10% Reduction in Number of National Assembly Members
Three Major Political Reforms Including No Work No Pay System

Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, is delivering a negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly on the 20th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, stated on the 20th that "excessive taxation is an ‘economic isolationist policy’" and announced that he would begin legislation to reduce corporate tax. He also proposed a 'three major political reform joint pledge' to the opposition party, including a 10% reduction in the number of National Assembly members and the introduction of a no work, no pay system, in response to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, taking a desperate stance by 'renouncing parliamentary immunity' the day before.

In a negotiation group speech at the National Assembly plenary session that day, Kim emphasized, "In an era of borderless global competition, isolationist policies lead to self-destruction," adding, "We need to closely examine the tax revenue situation, but we will quickly start urgent tax reform."

He cited the background for tax reform as South Korea’s top corporate tax rate being 26.4%, which is higher than that of advanced countries such as the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, as well as China, and the fact that there are about 90 quasi-taxes borne by companies. Kim introduced, "Ireland, once the poorest country in Europe, has risen to become the richest country in the world," explaining, "This is the result of corporate tax cuts attracting companies worldwide." He stressed, "We must remove outdated regulations that hinder innovation," and added, "The economy develops when the market and consumers are guaranteed free choice. We will actively mediate and coordinate to help new industries land smoothly, break unfairness and monopolies, and promote free competition."

Meanwhile, Kim proposed to the opposition party a joint pledge for three major political reforms, including the renunciation of parliamentary immunity, a 10% reduction in the number of National Assembly members, and the introduction of a no work, no pay system, saying, "Lee Jae-myung promised the public to give up parliamentary immunity but broke his promise as easily as turning over his palm."

Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, is delivering a negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly on the 20th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

In particular, Kim criticized Lee’s speech on renouncing parliamentary immunity the day before as "a lengthy sophistry that is hard to agree with," saying, "Judicial risks, money envelope corruption, blaming others, renouncing privileges only in words, and as a party leader who practices 'sadon-nammal' (criticizing others while ignoring one’s own faults), this is not something you should say." He added, "For an opposition leader to bow and receive lectures in front of the Chinese ambassador is not diplomacy but submissive servility," and continued, "Do you think the public will be fooled by the superstitious chant that the failure of the Yoon Seok-yeol government is the success of the Democratic Party?"

Kim emphasized, "A national task that must be solved to protect the interests of our people is establishing foreign relations based on reciprocity," and added, "Especially, we need to newly establish Korea-China relations." He then mentioned the voting rights of about 100,000 Chinese residents in Korea, saying, "Our citizens in China

have no voting rights at all," and stated, "It is fair not to grant voting rights to foreigners from countries that do not grant voting rights to our citizens."

Jeong Cheong-rae, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is shouting during the negotiation group representative speech of Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, held at the National Assembly on the 20th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He also stressed that foreigner health insurance coverage should follow reciprocity. Kim said, "The National Health Insurance fund, created by the sweat and effort of our people, should not be drained as funds for foreign medical shopping," and emphasized, "We will prevent health insurance freeloading and abuse."

Kim also called for a control mechanism against fiscal addiction and irresponsible politics of ‘spend first, think later,’ requesting the Democratic Party’s cooperation on the introduction of fiscal rules, tailored welfare, and pension reform.

On that day, Kim cited labor reform as the greatest achievement during the one year of the Yoon Seok-yeol government. He said, "The biggest beneficiaries of labor reform are the workers themselves," and added, "Under the Yoon Seok-yeol government, the ‘construction industry accident prevention’ has stopped. The construction sites are breathing freely and the construction industry is moving." He also promised to promote the Fair Hiring Act and introduce a flexible working hours system, saying, "Unions that do not even know how union dues are spent and privileged unions that block opportunities for youth through employment succession must now disappear."

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