Lee Jae-myung "Let's Adjust the Capital Gains Tax Limit"... Tax Dispute Erupts at Democratic Party Leadership Candidate Debate

Kim Du-kwan "Tax Relief Contradicts 'Meoksanism'"
Party Charter Revision "Because of Lee's Reappointment" VS "I Opposed It"

Kim Jisoo, Kim Doo-kwan, and Lee Jae-myung (in order of ballot number), candidates for the Democratic Party representative, attended the second debate held on the 24th. Candidates Kim Doo-kwan and Lee Jae-myung clashed over the 'Financial Investment Income Tax (Geumtu Tax)' and the 'Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax (Jongbu Tax)'. Regarding the amendment to the Democratic Party's constitution made last month, when criticized that it was "to pave the way for candidate Lee," Lee stated, "I opposed it."

On the 24th at 10:50 p.m., during the 'Party Representative Candidate Debate' hosted by KBS, candidate Lee said, "If the Geumtu Tax is implemented, only our country's stock prices will fall, causing significant harm to small investors," and added, "It is necessary to consider postponing the implementation for a considerable period and raising the tax exemption threshold." He continued, "I propose raising the tax base for the Geumtu Tax from 50 million won to about 100 million won," and argued, "If the entire tax is abolished, high-income earners will truly escape taxation, so that should remain taxed." At the same time, he added, "I naturally oppose tax cuts for large corporations with strong corporate tax payment capacity."

Lee Jae-myung (from left), Kim Ji-soo, and Kim Doo-kwan, candidates for the Democratic Party of Korea leadership, are taking a commemorative photo on the night of the 24th at KBS in Yeouido, Seoul, before starting the second debate. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Candidate Kim criticized, "Candidate Lee pledged 'Meoksanism,' but recently surprised me by talking about so-called 'tax cuts for the rich,' such as easing the Jongbu Tax and postponing the Geumtu Tax," and said, "I am curious how he plans to realize Meoksanism, which requires a lot of budget and resources." He also stated, "The Yoon Seok-yeol government drastically cut corporate tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, and Jongbu Tax, resulting in a 59 trillion won shortfall last year," and added, "It is only natural to impose the Jongbu Tax on people owning houses worth around 2 billion to 3 billion won."

Candidate Lee hinted at easing the Jongbu Tax for 'one primary residence.' He said, "We should acknowledge that taxation is a means to secure national revenue, not a means to punish individuals," and mentioned, "A house where a family lives together peacefully, earning money throughout their lives, faces punitive taxation just because its value has increased, which causes strong opposition." He further stated, "I think we can significantly ease the Jongbu Tax on one primary residence and balance it by slightly raising taxes on land, forest land, and buildings."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Candidates Lee and Kim also clashed over the amendment to the Democratic Party's constitution last month. Candidate Kim said, "People said the amendment was made 'to pave the way for candidate Lee' and 'to accommodate candidate Lee,'" and fiercely criticized, "If you want to amend such an important part of the constitution, it should be done at the party convention, so I find it hard to agree with why it was done at the Central Committee."

In response, candidate Lee emphasized, "I opposed the issue regarding the deadline for the representative's resignation," and said, "That is a fact." He added, "There could have been misunderstandings, and I opposed it several times because I didn't think it was absolutely necessary, so the decision was not made and was passed over." When candidate Kim asked, "Why did you amend something that wasn't absolutely necessary?" Lee replied, "We had the same debate during the party affairs committee meeting. Whether it exists or not, it has no actual relation to the outcome."

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