'Meeting with Democratic Party Leadership' Kim Dong-yeon: "Yoon Abandons Government Role in Livelihood and Economic Response"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon (fifth from the right) attended the 'Gyeonggi Province-Democratic Party Budget Policy Council' held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office on the 5th and shook hands with Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party floor leader.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon met with the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 5th to strengthen key policies of Gyeonggi Province and criticized the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's regression on livelihood issues.

At the ‘2024 Democratic Party of Korea-Gyeonggi Province Budget Policy Council’ held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office in Gwanggyo, Suwon, Governor Kim said, "The reason we were able to strive to move forward against the regressive Yoon Seok-yeol government over the past two years was because our Democratic Party clearly took the lead and provided significant support for our efforts," adding, "I sincerely thank the party leadership, including Representative Lee Jae-myung and Floor Leader Park Chan-dae."

He continued, "In line with today's council theme, fiscal policy is completely out of sync with reality. The central government's regressive fiscal policy has held the present and future of people's livelihoods hostage," expressing concern that "next year's budget, whether driven by conviction or stubbornness, seems trapped in a policy fantasy that will not help those struggling but rather worsen their difficulties."

Governor Kim then pointed out issues with the government's proposed budget for next year, as well as its tax cuts and austerity measures.

He first criticized, "Last year, tax revenue fell short by more than 56 trillion won, and this year it is expected to be nearly 30 trillion won short. This is truly a fiscal policy fraught with many problems."

In particular, he noted, "The government predicts a nominal growth rate of 4.5% next year and expects national tax revenue to increase by 10%. Anyone with even a slight interest in national finances, fiscal policy, or economic policy would be shocked by this."

Furthermore, he said, "The government's total expenditure growth rate for next year is 3.2%, which I believe means the central government has abandoned its role in fiscal stimulus," adding, "According to our statistics, the discretionary spending growth rate is only 0.8%. When the economy and people's livelihoods are difficult, fiscal policy should be actively used to revitalize the economy and support vulnerable groups."

He added, "If such measures are not properly implemented and difficulties worsen, it will eventually become impossible to revive the economy even if there is a desire to do so."

Governor Kim defined the Yoon Seok-yeol administration as a regime that has abandoned its role in livelihood and economic response and requested the Democratic Party leadership to support legislation on five laws, provide national funding for ten major projects, and show interest and cooperation on key provincial issues such as the 4.5-day workweek.

The five laws include the enactment of the Semiconductor Special Act, the RE100 three laws (amendment of the Renewable Energy Act, enactment of the tentative ‘Agrivoltaics Support Act,’ amendment of the Industrial Cluster Act), and the enactment of the Special Act for the Establishment of the Northern Gyeonggi Special Self-Governing Province.

National funding support for the ten major projects amounts to a total of 1.28 trillion won, including construction costs for the Shinbundang Line extension (Gwanggyo to Homaesil), subsidies for the construction of the Metropolitan Area Express Railway Line C (Deokjeong to Suwon), and public transportation fare refunds (K-Pass). This also includes 18 billion won to support the construction of the Ansan Sewol Ferry Memorial Facility. Gyeonggi Province will begin construction of the long-delayed Sewol Ferry Memorial Facility this October.

Meanwhile, participants at the council shared details of the ‘Kim Dong-yeon style’ policies such as the 4.5-day workweek, climate action opportunity income, and the Gyeonggi Pass during a closed meeting. They agreed to actively discover policies reflecting the values and vision of the Democratic Party at the local level and brand them as ‘Democratic Party’ policies.

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