'2022 Foreign Agency Chiefs Meeting' Held on the 17th
Attendance by Heads of National Tax Service, Customs Service, Public Procurement Service, and Statistics Korea
Postponed by One Week Due to National Tax Service Chief's Mother's Funeral
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki presides over the heads of external agencies meeting and delivers opening remarks at the Government Sejong Complex on the afternoon of the 17th. (Photo by Ministry of Economy and Finance)
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, urged Kim Dae-ji, Commissioner of the National Tax Service, to "respond strictly to 'real estate tax evasion' as this year marks an important turning point for stabilizing the real estate market."
Deputy Prime Minister Hong made this request during an 'External Agency Heads Meeting' held on the afternoon of the 17th. The meeting was attended by four external agency heads: Kim Dae-ji, Commissioner of the National Tax Service; Lim Jae-hyun, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service; Kim Jung-woo, Administrator of the Public Procurement Service; and Ryu Geun-gwan, Commissioner of the Statistics Korea. The meeting, originally scheduled for the 10th, was postponed by one week in consideration of Commissioner Kim’s mother’s funeral.
Emphasizing the importance of policy implementation, Deputy Prime Minister Hong conveyed requests to each external agency. First, he asked Commissioner Kim Dae-ji to "continue inclusive tax support such as payment deadline extensions focusing on industries affected by COVID-19, and steadily promote the establishment of real-time income information infrastructure to build a detailed employment safety net." He added, "Tax audits should be conducted carefully so as not to burden the normal economic activities of the public, but respond strictly to real estate tax evasion."
To Commissioner Ryu Geun-gwan, he requested, "In response to changes such as household fragmentation and aging, focus on improving reliable policy statistics like employment statistics and household trend surveys, and continue efforts to improve infrastructure, including establishing a legal basis for data utilization and expansion." To Commissioner Lim Jae-hyun, he said, "Please establish a customs support system capable of rapid clearance of raw materials related to national core industries such as bio and information technology (IT), and immediate response in case of supply instability of important imported items." To Administrator Kim Jung-woo, he instructed, "Following the recent overseas supply instability incidents such as the urea solution shortage, the role of the Public Procurement Service is important from an economic security perspective. Shorten the emergency purchase lead time from 35 days to 10 days, and add new stockpile items and expand supply."
Deputy Prime Minister Hong emphasized, "This year is a period of 'transition and change' with very high uncertainty expected across various domestic and international political, economic, and social fields. I hope that through this external agency heads meeting, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the four external agencies will establish a close communication and cooperation system, and that each institution will faithfully carry out their respective duties on the ground."
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