[Yeouido Interview] Park Sung-jun "Urgent Need to Resolve Household Debt"... Urging Passage of 'Automatic Interest Rate Reduction Act'

Interview with Park Seong-jun, Democratic Party Lawmaker
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"Automatically lowering interest rates could more quickly reduce the household burden on loan consumers."

Park Seong-jun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, recently identified the amendment to the Banking Act, known as the 'Automatic Interest Rate Reduction Act,' as the most urgent bill to be processed in an interview with Asia Economy held at the National Assembly. The amendment, which Park introduced as the main proposer in August last year, mandates banks and other financial institutions to automatically lower interest rates when a borrower's credit score or income changes.

Under the current right to request an interest rate reduction, financial consumers can ask financial companies to lower their loan interest rates if their credit scores improve or their income or assets increase. However, since each bank's internal credit evaluation criteria are not disclosed, there have been criticisms that consumers rarely make active use of this right. Park said, "Since joining the Political Affairs Committee in the second half of the 21st National Assembly, I judged that solving financial and household debt issues is urgent," adding, "if the automatic interest rate reduction law passes, it will alleviate household debt burdens and more firmly guarantee the rights of loan consumers."

Park, who worked as an announcer at Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and JTBC, won his first gold badge in the 21st National Assembly general election. Since entering Yeouido, he has served as the Democratic Party spokesperson, conveying the party's voice. Regarding next year's general election, he criticized, "Domestic economic issues are considered the biggest problem of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration," and added, "Prices have risen significantly, and there are talks of an economic crisis, but the current administration seems uninterested in the economy and people's livelihoods."

He continued, "One of the biggest crises our society faces is the low birthrate problem," and said, "I have proposed bills to expand child and youth allowance payments, increase income tax deductions for children's education expenses, and two birth encouragement tax laws to overcome the low birthrate, but unfortunately, these bills remain pending due to intense confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties."

He also emphasized political responsibility for lawmakers who voted in favor of the arrest motion against Representative Lee Jae-myung. He stated, "(Regarding the pro-approval faction) regardless of the purge, those who publicly raise division and disunity to shake the party must be dealt with firmly," and "Party members and the public should judge and hold them politically accountable."

Below is a Q&A with Representative Park.

Q. With the general election approaching, what resolve should the Democratic Party have?

A. Broadly speaking, the general election is a judgment on the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. Domestic economic issues are considered the biggest problem of the Yoon administration. Prices have risen significantly, and there are talks of an economic crisis, but the current administration seems uninterested in the economy and people's livelihoods. Since they have only shown overseas diplomatic visits, the public inevitably feels that "the government does not take responsibility for my life."

The second issue is government failure. There have been many criticisms of excessive prosecution investigations. In the upcoming December National Assembly session, bills for special investigations on the 'Daejang-dong 5 billion club' and 'Kim Geon-hee special investigation' are scheduled to be fast-tracked and await voting. President Yoon Seok-yeol may exercise a veto, and the validity of such a veto could become an issue. The Democratic Party should take a leading role in responding to the administration's mistakes and proposing alternatives to win the general election.

Q. Issues such as Fukushima contaminated water and allegations of interference in the investigation of Chae Sang-byeong are piling up, but the atmosphere seems to be letting them slide without resolution.

A. The Democratic Party is making its best efforts to ensure that important and major issues do not scatter. Regarding the Fukushima contaminated water discharge issue, we are responding together with the international community, and we plan to gradually resolve the allegations of interference in the Chae Sang-byeong investigation through a special investigation. Since the National Assembly is currently in the audit period, we are focusing on clarifying the suspicions through audits, and if there are shortcomings, we plan to reveal everything through a parliamentary investigation starting in November.

[Yeouido Interview] Park Sung-jun, Democratic Party member. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Q. Currently, the Democratic Party is divided between pro-Lee Jae-myung and anti-Lee factions, and there are talks of purges. What is your view?

A. While there is a pro-Lee and anti-Lee issue, the most important point is that the prosecution's investigation related to party leader Lee Jae-myung is outrageous. The approval of the arrest motion was a prosecution card by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration to remove the opposition leader and divide the Democratic Party. The pro-approval faction sympathized with this to seize party power, and holding them accountable is a very difficult issue. Basically, it was a free vote without a party line decision, and the party line was only a recommendation, so this result came about. However, since they defied this recommended party line, I believe there is definitely a responsibility issue.

I think political responsibility can be demanded, but that is for party members and the public to judge. Realistically, purging is not possible, and the Democratic Party is not trying to purge these pro-approval members. If purging and legal disciplinary actions were pursued, it would cause internal party strife. Such repercussions could greatly affect upcoming elections, so I consider it risky.

Q. You have been active in legislative work for the past three years. What is the most memorable achievement?

A. The most memorable was proposing a series of bills related to the low birthrate. I believe the low birthrate is one of the biggest crises our society faces, so to find fundamental solutions, I held several forums and recently proposed four bills in total: bills to expand child and youth allowance payments, increase income tax deductions for children's education expenses, and two birth encouragement tax laws to overcome the low birthrate. Unfortunately, these bills remain pending due to intense confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties.

Q. Are there other bills you are interested in and promoting?

A. Since joining the Political Affairs Committee in the second half of the National Assembly, I judged that solving financial and household debt issues is urgent. Therefore, in August last year, I proposed a partial amendment to the Banking Act called the 'Automatic Interest Rate Reduction Act.' The current right to request an interest rate reduction allows financial consumers to ask financial companies to lower loan interest rates when there is a positive change such as an increase in credit score or income/assets. However, since each bank has different conditions and internal credit evaluation criteria are not disclosed to the public, consumers rarely actively use this right.

This amendment requires banks to monitor borrowers' credit status improvements and automatically reduce interest rates without separate applications. Accordingly, automatically lowering interest rates is expected to more quickly reduce the household burden on loan consumers.

Q. What kind of politician do you want to be?

A. I want to be a politician who solves current problems inherited from the past and seeks alternatives to prepare for the future. I see social polarization and the low birthrate as representative problems. Wealth polarization produces the low birthrate problem, and the low birthrate creates other social problems. I want to create solutions to break this vicious cycle.

Also, I want to play a role in preparing the country's future growth engines. The current Yoon Seok-yeol government has cut research and development (R&D) budgets. To build a foundation for South Korea to become one of the world's top five powers within the next 10 or 20 years, nurturing talent is essential. In that regard, my goal is to gather alternatives related to R&D, legislate them, and turn them into policies.

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