Hong Ik-pyo: "Salesman Yoon earned 7 trillion won and leaked 105 trillion won... should be fired"

Democratic Party Floor Leader Criticizes 'Expenditure' on Summit Diplomacy Budget
"Attracting Investment Through Overseas Trips? Outflow Scale Is Larger"
"If a CEO, Shouldn't Such Salespeople Be Fired?"

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, strongly criticized President Yoon Seok-yeol, who has repeatedly embarked on overseas trips, calling himself the "No. 1 salesperson." Contrary to the presidential office's promotion that "a large amount of foreign capital investment was attracted," more of Korea's capital has actually been flowing out.

At a floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 28th, Floor Leader Hong said, "When controversy arose over the record-high expenditure of 57.8 billion won on the president's overseas trips, the presidential office rebutted by saying, 'The trips attracted large-scale investments worth 7 trillion won of our money,'" adding, "If 7 trillion won was attracted, that would be an excellent salesperson's achievement, but looking at the announcements from the countries the president visited, it is ironic."

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is reviewing materials at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 28th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

He stated, "The White House announced that Korean companies invested about 55.5 billion dollars in the United States during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting," which amounts to 72 trillion won in Korean currency. He continued, "After the president's visit to the United Kingdom, the British Prime Minister announced investment attraction results of 20.1 billion pounds, approximately 33 trillion won, in renewable energy and social overhead capital," emphasizing, "Just combining these two amounts to 105 trillion won."

Floor Leader Hong questioned, "Except for February, there was an overseas trip every month. President Yoon named himself 'Korea's No. 1 salesperson,' which he has continuously boasted about since his inauguration, but I wonder if this is appropriate." He then criticized, "If this salesperson attracted 7 trillion won but lost 105 trillion won, should a CEO keep employing such a salesperson or fire them?"

He pointed out, "Normally, 'business diplomacy' should attract foreign capital, but (President Yoon) has caused capital outflow overseas," adding, "While domestic jobs are not being created, overseas jobs are being made well, and our economy is getting worse while foreign economies are revitalizing." He further said, "I want to hear the presidential office's explanation," and sarcastically remarked, "If this is the achievement of the No. 1 salesperson, I don't know how the public will evaluate it."

Meanwhile, this year's budget for summit diplomacy reached a record high of 57.8 billion won. This was the result of fully spending the originally allocated 24.9 billion won for summit diplomacy in the main budget and additionally approving 32.9 billion won from the contingency fund at the Cabinet meeting in September. Most of the budget was used for the overseas trip schedules of the president and his spouse, and opposition parties are demanding verification of the spending, claiming that the presidential couple is enjoying a "luxurious trip."

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