Democrats Attempt to Pass 'Lee Jae-myung's' Local Gift Certificate Act... Intensified Confrontation Between Ruling and Opposition Parties

Democratic Party to Push Ahead with 'Mandatory Local Gift Certificate Act'
Ruling Party: "Holding Livelihood Hostage to Boost Lee Jae-myung... Waste of Public Funds"
Ruling and Opposition Parties Intensify Confrontation Even Before 2+2 Consultative Body Launch

The Democratic Party of Korea, after unilaterally increasing the budget for the local love gift certificate program?a key project of leader Lee Jae-myung?for next year, is now pushing to forcibly pass a bill that mandates the government to allocate the budget. The ruling party is strongly opposed to the bill, even to the extent of cutting the entire related budget, so the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties over livelihood bills and next year's budget in the last regular session of the 21st National Assembly is expected to intensify further.

On the 6th, the Democratic Party moved to process the 'Local Love Gift Certificate Act Amendment' at the first subcommittee of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee. The amendment, originally proposed by Representative Lee Hae-sik in February this year, includes provisions to make administrative and financial support from the state and local governments mandatory to revitalize the local gift certificate program. It stipulates that when local governments apply for support budgets, the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety must reflect it in the next year's budget, and the Minister of Strategy and Finance must allocate the budget according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's request by law. This amendment is known to have been directly prioritized by leader Lee Jae-myung and was submitted to the Public Administration and Security Committee's bill subcommittee on the 22nd of last month.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 6th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

A policy committee official of the Democratic Party told Asia Economy in a phone interview on the same day, "The bill to mandate support for local love gift certificates is a livelihood bill emphasized by leader Lee Jae-myung and a key bill promoted at the party level," adding, "It will definitely be processed in the standing committee during the regular session." He further added, "The Yoon Seok-yeol government’s complete cut of the related budget, ignoring livelihood issues, has made the necessity of the bill even clearer."

The local love gift certificate (local currency) is a representative 'Lee Jae-myung-style project' that leader Lee Jae-myung has promoted since his time as mayor of Seongnam. The Democratic Party increased the budget for the local love gift certificate by 700 billion KRW during the Public Administration and Security Committee’s budget review on the 9th of last month, after the government had completely cut it from next year's budget proposal. The ruling party strongly opposed this, citing budget proportions and the Yoon Seok-yeol administration’s 'sound fiscal policy' stance, but when the agenda was put to a vote, they walked out, and the Democratic Party passed it unilaterally.

Representative Lee Hae-sik said, "A public opinion survey conducted on 1,000 citizens last October showed that 86.4% of respondents were 'satisfied' with the use of local love gift certificates, and a majority agreed that it greatly contributes to revitalizing the local economy," emphasizing, "It is urgent to expand support for local love gift certificates in local governments that cannot plan the project due to budget shortages and to prepare measures to allocate practical budgets."

In response, a member of the People Power Party in the Public Administration and Security Committee claimed, "This is an indisputable vote-buying act." He criticized, "Is it reasonable to pour 700 billion KRW of taxpayers' money to boost leader Lee Jae-myung by holding livelihood hostage? The pandemic ended long ago, and rather than revitalizing small businesses, it has revealed various side effects such as increasing economic losses. If they push through relying only on the majority seats, they will be judged."

Opposition Party Pushes 'Lee Jae-myung-style' Project... Will Year-End Political Climate Freeze Further?

The Democratic Party’s forcible processing of the bill on this day is expected to rapidly cool the year-end National Assembly. From this day, the ruling and opposition parties will activate a '2+2 consultative body' to discuss livelihood bills to be processed in the last regular session of the 21st National Assembly. However, even before sitting down to discuss in the consultative body, there is a stark difference in the sense of 'urgency.' Moreover, if the Democratic Party forcibly processes the Local Love Gift Certificate Act amendment, one of the contentious bills, in the standing committee without waiting for the consultative body’s discussion, the confrontation is likely to deepen further.

Earlier, on the 28th of last month, People Power Party floor leader Yoon Jae-ok proposed the formation of the consultative body and listed bills to be prioritized for processing, including ▲ the 'Corporate Restructuring Promotion Act Amendment' extending the workout system for three years ▲ the 'Distribution Industry Act Amendment' easing online delivery regulations for large marts ▲ the 'Serious Accident Punishment Act Amendment' deferring application to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees for two more years ▲ the First New Town Special Act ▲ the High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Special Act ▲ the Space and Aviation Agency Special Act, stating, "These laws are almost ready for agreement and the key issues for resolution are being organized."

On the other hand, Democratic Party Policy Committee Chair Lee Gae-ho said at the party’s floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly the day before, "The livelihood bills that the ruling party wants to process (in the consultative body) are somewhat strange," criticizing, "They are not true livelihood bills but 'People Power Party-style' livelihood bills needed by the ruling party." He emphasized prioritizing the processing of ▲ the Local Love Gift Certificate Act ▲ the 'Bank Act' to strengthen the right to request interest rate reductions and prevent banks from passing legal costs onto consumers ▲ and the 'Small Business 3 Acts' to provide energy support for small business owners and grounds for loan deferment in case of business closure.