Hong Ik-pyo "Historic Tax Revenue Shortfall Worsens Local and Education Finances"

"Fiscal Failure, Vicious Cycle of Regional Economic Contraction"
"Yoon Administration's Attempt to Seize Election Commission, Thorough Investigation Needed"

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 26th, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration's fiscal failure has dealt a direct blow to local and educational finances," and urged "the government to implement practical measures to overcome the crisis."

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the National Assembly inspection countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly on the 26th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

During a National Assembly inspection countermeasure meeting held that morning, Floor Leader Hong said, "Due to an unprecedented tax revenue shortfall of about 60 trillion won, local allocation tax and local education finance grants sent to local governments and education offices are expected to decrease by approximately 23 trillion won."

He explained, "The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has ordered each local government to actively discover available resources and take emergency measures, but most local governments already have no spare funds to cope with the fiscal shock," adding, "Among the 243 basic and metropolitan local governments, 19 have no financial stabilization funds at all, and as many as 46 have no surplus funds."

He also mentioned that educational finances are in a similar situation. Floor Leader Hong said, "Education offices nationwide are in panic as kindergarten and elementary to secondary education budgets have been cut by about 11 trillion won," criticizing, "Our children are the ones who will bear the brunt of the incompetent government's fiscal failure."

He then criticized the government for having "no countermeasures."

Floor Leader Hong pointed out, "On the 20th, Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho optimistically stated at the National Assembly inspection that there is 'no problem with expenditures in the big picture' despite the unprecedented tax revenue shortfall and worsening local finances," and warned, "The government must not overlook that its fiscal failure leads to the deterioration of local finances and can cause a vicious cycle of regional economic contraction."

He emphasized, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration's 'passing the responsibility to local governments' is not a solution," and "A proactive change in the government's attitude must come first."

On the same day, Floor Leader Hong sharply criticized the National Intelligence Service's act of announcing the election management committee's security consulting results the day before the Seoul Gangseo District Office chief election as a "anti-constitutional behavior."

Hong said, "The Yoon Seok-yeol regime is mobilizing privatized power agencies, ministries, and the ruling party to even attempt to seize control of the election commission," and added, "It is a very serious situation that the National Intelligence Service announced the possibility of vote manipulation a day before the Gangseo District Office chief by-election after conducting a security inspection of the election commission." He further pointed out, "According to Assemblyman Kang Byung-won, after the National Intelligence Service's security inspection, 15 inspection tools remained on four systems of the election commission's server," and "Security experts advised that these tools appear to be 'hacking tools.'"

Floor Leader Hong stated, "We will conduct a thorough investigation into the entire process of the National Intelligence Service's security inspection of the election commission and the purpose of leaving hacking tools on the election commission's server," and added, "We will first clarify the suspicions through a comprehensive audit by the Public Administration and Security Committee, and if necessary, conduct a state investigation."

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