[Reporter’s Notebook] Only Elections, No Minsaeng (People’s Livelihood)

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President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that "extravagant spending is exploitation of future generations." This was his opening remark at the Cabinet meeting on the 18th. He pointed out the issue of the national debt exceeding 1,000 trillion won and urged Cabinet members to take measures to prevent the waste of taxpayers' money. He also emphasized that the National Assembly should hasten legislation related to the introduction of fiscal rules to safeguard the country's treasury.

Coincidentally, at the same Cabinet meeting, special laws regarding the relocation of military airports in Gwangju and Daegu, as well as the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Integrated New Airport (TK New Airport) special law, were approved. These bills, which passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 13th, faced criticism for being a political deal between the ruling and opposition parties, exchanging regional issues between Yeongnam and Honam. The Military Airport Relocation Special Law was proposed on January 19 this year and referred to the National Defense Committee the next day, then directly sent to a subcommittee on February 13. At that time, lawmakers from both parties representing the relevant regions reportedly agreed on the special law's processing with Chu Kyung-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, whose constituency is Dalseong County in Daegu, in attendance. Since the bill was directly referred to the subcommittee by bipartisan agreement, the expert review report was omitted in accordance with Article 58, Paragraph 4 of the National Assembly Act. This means the bill was processed without a thorough examination of its validity.

The same applies to the recently deferred bill in the National Assembly that relaxes the criteria for exemption from preliminary feasibility studies (PFS). The amendment to the National Finance Act, which passed a subcommittee on the 12th of this month, significantly relaxes the PFS exemption criteria. The ruling and opposition parties had already promised to pass it in December last year amid a standoff over the 2023 budget. This came after the government first proposed relaxing the criteria. The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated that it would abolish the "blind PFS exemption" worth 120 trillion won implemented during the Moon Jae-in administration in September last year, specifying exempt projects instead, while easing the threshold amount that had not been adjusted for 24 years. The reason given was to reflect South Korea's advanced economic scale.

However, there are significant concerns that this bill will lead to a proliferation of populist projects ahead of next year's general election. Both ruling and opposition parties are equally eager for "one more vote" before the election. If President Yoon signs the special laws, large-scale airport relocations in Daegu and Gwangju, costing more than 20 trillion won in project expenses, and the TK New Airport will be funded by taxpayers without preliminary feasibility studies, according to the special laws.

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