Yoon Oversees Cabinet Meeting for 2nd Week, Addressing Fiscal Innovation and North Korean Human Rights Abuses (Comprehensive)

Discussion on next year's budget... "Sufficient financial expenditure to strengthen welfare for the vulnerable"
On the publication of the North Korean Human Rights Report, "The reality of human rights abuses must be fully revealed"
Reiterating party-government consultations, "To ensure public opinion is adequately reflected"

President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 28th, "We will pursue strong fiscal innovation to maintain a sound fiscal stance." This referred to the government's fiscal management policy according to the budget formulation guidelines for the next year, also indicating a direction to prevent fiscal leakage and streamline the welfare system. He also mentioned strengthening consultations between the ruling party and the government on policies, continuing from the previous day. This was an order to minimize noise in policy formulation, implementation, and budget management.

At the Cabinet meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office that morning, President Yoon said, "Next year's budget will boldly invest in what the government must do while ensuring that not a single won of tax money is wasted."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the Cabinet meeting held on the 28th at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Considering that this year's budget was initially set by the Moon Jae-in administration last year and partially revised by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which took office in May, the 2024 budget is effectively the first budget management direction fully established by the Yoon administration. The change in the Cabinet meeting chairmanship from Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to President Yoon himself on this day is for the same reason. It is interpreted as the president's intention to personally explain to the public the policy stance for promoting key national tasks such as the three major reforms reflected in next year's budget.

President Yoon summarized the budget formulation guidelines for next year, which will serve as the foundation for the three major reforms in labor, education, and pensions, as "strong fiscal innovation." According to President Yoon, while maintaining a sound fiscal stance, the government will properly perform essential national functions such as defense and the rule of law. He added, "We will make sufficient fiscal expenditures to enhance the foundation for future growth and employment creation capabilities, and to strengthen welfare for the vulnerable." President Yoon also emphasized, "We must thoroughly block improper fiscal leakage factors such as subsidies paid to organizations with opaque accounting and fund execution, populist cash handouts, and subsidies with unclear usage, and streamline the welfare delivery system."

He also brought up a message on North Korea, which is rarely addressed in Cabinet meetings. President Yoon said, "It has been seven years since the North Korean Human Rights Act was enacted, but the North Korean Human Rights Foundation has yet to be launched, and only now is the North Korean Human Rights Report being published and distributed." He stated, "The North Korean Human Rights Act must now be practically implemented."

He instructed government ministries to widely publicize and educate the reality of North Korean human rights domestically and internationally using the publication of this report as an opportunity. President Yoon explained, "The horrific human rights violations of North Korean residents must be fully exposed to the international community," and added, "I hope that the reality of North Korean human rights will be widely disclosed to the international community through the Democracy Summit starting tomorrow and the ongoing United Nations Human Rights Council."

The importance of policy promotion, which President Yoon has mentioned several times recently, appeared again on this day. President Yoon said, "Through consultations between the ruling party and the government, public opinion must be sufficiently reflected from the policy drafting stage," and urged cooperation throughout the entire policy process, including policy discovery, public opinion collection, and legislation. The previous day, at the Chief Secretary meeting, President Yoon instructed the cabinet, "Even policies that do not involve bills or budgets must be closely consulted between the ruling party and the government."

This reflects internal and external criticism that various confusions in recent government policy implementation have prevented the original intent of policy formulation from being properly conveyed to the public. Starting with the flexible working hours system expanding into controversy over a '69-hour workweek,' solutions for forced labor, and now low birthrate measures are being interpreted as 'military service exemption policies.'

In addition, he also addressed the on-site inspection by the International Bureau of Expositions delegation in Busan. President Yoon said, "The government has adopted the 2030 Busan World Expo bid as a national task and has been conducting all-out bid activities together with the private sector," and added, "I repeatedly urge all Cabinet members to do their best with the attitude of 'Expo salesmen.'"