Lee Jae-myung: "Democratic Party Originally an Economy-Centered Party... Rightward Shift? Emphasizing Growth Due to Economic Difficulties"

Democratic Party Supreme Council Meeting on the 17th
"All DJ, Roh, and Moon Administrations Pursued Economic Development"
"Democratic Party Outperforms People Power Party in Security Policy"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "The Democratic Party has always been an economy-centered party," and added, "The People Power Party says the Democratic Party has shifted to the right, but the world and circumstances have changed, and if you don't change, you are a fool."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 17th. 2025.2.17 Photo by Kim Hyun-min

On the 17th, at the Democratic Party's Supreme Council meeting, Lee said, "The Democratic Party has pursued growth while ensuring that growth is fair," and explained, "Currently, the economic situation is very difficult, so we are placing more emphasis on economic growth, but this does not mean we have abandoned welfare and redistribution in favor of growth alone."

Lee emphasized that the Democratic Party is a party that pursues economic development, saying, "Former President Kim Dae-jung wrote the book on popular economics, overcame the IMF financial crisis, and laid the foundation for IT," and "President Roh Moo-hyun established the foundation for South Korea's growth through the Korea-US FTA, and the Moon Jae-in administration promoted the New Southern Policy."

He also stated, "What I can say for sure about economic issues is that the Democratic Party is better than the People Power Party," and added, "Currently, the KOSPI index is barely hanging around the 2600 range from 2500, but if the Democratic Party comes to power, it will reach the 3000 range without any special changes."

Regarding the reason, Lee said, "If there is stock price manipulation, we will punish it," explaining that the Democratic Party can make the market more fair if it comes to power. He also said, "Would foreign investors invest in a market with strong opacity, where companies are split into subsidiaries and stock prices are arbitrarily lowered? Originally, the Capital Market Act should be amended, but since the People Power Party opposes it, we have no choice but to amend the Commercial Act," adding, "The peace issue on the Korean Peninsula also affects stock prices, and if the Democratic Party engages in dialogue and stabilizes the situation on the peninsula, stock prices will naturally rise."

He claimed that the Democratic Party is also better than the People Power Party in security policy. Lee said, "Compare the defense budget when conservative governments were in power with that of democratic governments," and added, "The development of the defense industry also happened under Democratic Party administrations." He continued, "Whenever we do something, we are criticized for giving to North Korea, but the amount of aid to North Korea was much higher under conservative governments," and said, "Ask the internet or ChatGPT."

Lee criticized, "These days, the People Power Party lies too much and should at least have a minimum sense of responsibility," adding, "Even elementary school students don't behave like this."

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