Party, Government, and 청 Korean New Deal Workshop... "We will ensure smooth legislative implementation and budget securing"

Korean New Deal Party-Government-Blue House Workshop
Lee Nak-yeon "No Setbacks in Regional Balanced New Deal"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The Democratic Party of Korea, the government, and the Blue House gathered on the 25th to review current issues related to the ‘Korean New Deal’ and agreed to accelerate the implementation of legislative tasks and budget procurement.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, held the ‘Korean New Deal Party-Government-Blue House Workshop’ at the National Assembly on the same day and urged, “For the party, the implementation of legislative tasks and securing the budget for the Korean New Deal are highly important tasks.”

Lee said, “There should be no setbacks in the newly added Regional Balanced New Deal,” and added, “We must contribute to regional balanced development so that the (COVID-19) crisis does not result in widening gaps between regions.” He further stated, “If it mistakenly becomes a ‘distribution of national funds’ to local governments, there is a concern that the effectiveness will decrease,” and emphasized, “Effective and systematic preparation for the Regional Balanced New Deal is necessary to prevent such a situation.”

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party, said, “The ‘K New Deal,’ which will be promoted until 2025, is a national transformation project. The biggest caution is skepticism about whether it will succeed and the inertia of approaching it with past thinking and methods,” adding, “A bold change in thinking and creative solutions are needed.”

Kim emphasized, “At the workshop, we will review the top 10 representative projects and legislative tasks by sector. The ‘K New Deal’ will be an opportunity to transform the future of the Republic of Korea and the lives of its people,” and added, “After the national audit ends, it will be time for legislation and budget. We will complete the related legislation in this regular session of the National Assembly.”

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, who attended the meeting, stated, “The domestic and international situations related to COVID-19 are ongoing and severe. Overcoming the immediate COVID-19 crisis is the top priority,” and added, “Preparations for the post-COVID-19 era are also very important.” Hong explained, “We are preparing follow-up measures for the Korean New Deal from four perspectives: finance, loan utilization, institutional improvement, and regional New Deal to create momentum.”

In the workshop, in-depth discussions were held on the Regional Balanced New Deal. Jeong Tae-ho, head of the Democratic Party’s K-New Deal Planning Group, met with two reporters after the workshop and said, “Out of 160 trillion won, 70 trillion won will be spent on the Regional New Deal,” and added, “We shared the recognition that how well regional projects connect with the Korean New Deal is important because sometimes regional demands and government directions do not align.”

Regarding future legislative tasks, Jeong said, “We need to handle 31 related laws in the regular session,” and added, “There may be disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties. We will engage in full dialogue with the opposition.” He also noted, “Conflicts between new industries and old industries are expected. We will carefully review these factors as well.”