Opposition to Include 'Tax Justice' in Manifesto, Excluding 'Income-Led Growth' and 'One Household One House'

Amendment to the Charter Passed by the Emergency Committee on the 17th
New Provisions Introduced Including Tax Justice and Fiscal Democracy
'Basic Income' Excluded with Less Than Majority Support

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The emergency committee of the Democratic Party of Korea passed a revision of the party platform on the 17th, which newly includes the concepts of 'tax justice' and 'fiscal democracy.' The contentious term 'income-led growth' was changed to 'inclusive growth,' and 'one household, one house' was revised to 'focus on actual residence and real demand.'

Kim Seong-ju, chair of the platform subcommittee, held a press briefing at the National Assembly in the afternoon to explain the revised draft.

He stated, "This platform revision updates the platform from 2020 after two years," adding, "It is significant as the Democratic Party, having lost two major elections?the presidential and local elections?and transitioned from the ruling party to the opposition, is now clarifying its overall direction."

The platform subcommittee of the party convention preparation committee conducted five expert forums, followed by political, economic, and social discussions and specialized revision meetings. Subsequently, a survey was conducted among 88 party lawmakers to finalize the revision draft.

The controversial term 'income-led growth' was changed to 'inclusive growth,' and 'one household, one house' was revised to 'focus on actual residence and real demand.' Chair Kim explained that regarding income-led growth, "It was inappropriate to maintain a policy from a specific period after transitioning from opposition to ruling party," and "the term was changed to a more inclusive one." Regarding 'one household, one house,' he added, "There is still internal debate on this issue," and "(According to the lawmaker survey) 57% agreed to remove the principle of one household, one house. Changing it to focus on actual residence and real demand implies a strong suppression of speculative demand."

The revision draft newly includes a clause on 'tax justice and fiscal democracy.' Chair Kim explained, "The Democratic Party has traditionally aimed for a welfare state but has not disclosed how to secure funding," and "In opposition to the current Yoon Seok-yeol administration's tax cut policy, the Democratic Party intends to clarify its fiscal policy."

The draft also includes expanding 'decentralization and balanced development' to encompass human rights and equal opportunity aspects. This principle aims to provide universal basic services to all citizens nationwide.

The principle of advocating 'political pluralism' was also included. He said, "To move beyond a two-party system toward a multi-party system, diverse voices within the party are necessary," and "During decision-making, a free-for-all style of debate should be activated."

Additionally, the committee emphasized 'asset inequality' in the revision draft. Regarding this, he explained, "Income inequality is actually decreasing, but asset inequality is increasingly widening," and "In a situation where asset inequality is severe, policies to reduce asset inequality must be prioritized."

Other changes include changing 'inclusive welfare state' to 'universal welfare state,' revising 'real wages' to 'appropriate wages,' changing 'educational innovation' to 'educational transformation,' and including content on 'overcoming gender conflict and hate' in the gender equality clause.

However, the 'basic income' policy, which was a presidential pledge of party leader candidate Lee Jae-myung, was decided not to be included in the platform. Chair Kim said, "There was no deep and serious debate on whether to adopt basic income," and "In the lawmaker survey, about 45% agreed on including it in the platform, while 55% disagreed, so it was decided not to include basic income in the platform this time."

The platform revision draft will be finalized through a vote by the Central Committee at 10 a.m. on the 24th, following approval by the party affairs committee.