Prime Minister Han Targets Lee: "Populism Is a Cancerous Presence... Difficult to Manage Once Entrapped"

Lee Jae-myung Proposes 250,000 Won Support per Person
Han Deok-soo Points Out "Populism Needs Testing"
Yoon Seok-yeol "Open" to Meeting with Lee Jae-myung

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who recently expressed his intention to resign, is answering reporters' questions at a back briefing with the press corps held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 17th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo pointed out that the proposal by Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, to provide a 250,000 won livelihood recovery support fund per citizen is "populism that can act as a major cancerous presence in the Republic of Korea."

Regarding the summit meeting between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung, Prime Minister Han said, "The meeting is open," and explained, "The presidential office will continue to consider when, on what topics, and in what manner it will take place."

Targeting Lee Jae-myung's Populism... "Once Misled, It’s Hard to Recover"

On the afternoon of the 17th, at a briefing with reporters at the annex of the Government Seoul Office, Prime Minister Han evaluated negatively the policy proposed by Lee Jae-myung to provide 250,000 won per person as a livelihood recovery support fund, saying it is "not sustainable."

He said, "I think populism is ultimately a policy created to gain popularity among the people that the state cannot sustain as a sustainable policy," and added, "It is very important to be cautious about policies that simply give individuals a certain amount of money to make them happy, rather than spending the budget on building infrastructure for future generations, nurturing talent, developing technology, or creating new medical systems."

He continued, "I believe the people will make sufficient judgments about the 250,000 won proposed by the opposition," and emphasized, "However, whether it is the ruling party, the opposition, the political circles, or the government, populism can act as a major cancerous presence in the Republic of Korea. We have already seen this in Argentina and Greece."

Prime Minister Han stressed again, "Once you fall into this trap, it becomes very difficult to recover," and said, "We must be very careful about this, and therefore any project must undergo a kind of populism test from the media or experts regarding sustainability."

Prime Minister Han said that the meeting between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung, which has attracted attention since the general election, is under consideration.

He said, "It naturally came up during the weekly meeting with the president last Monday," and added, "The meeting is open. It has only been a few days since the election ended, so everyone needs time to organize their thoughts."

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who recently expressed his intention to resign, is entering the press briefing held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 17th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The Medical Community Awaits a Reasonable Unified Proposal

Regarding the expansion of medical school quotas, Prime Minister Han expressed regret that the medical community has not presented a unified proposal and maintained the existing position of "not being bound by the figure of 2,000."

Prime Minister Han said, "Although other issues have been discussed considerably, the medical community has never provided a specific number regarding the government's position that the medical school quota should be increased by about 2,000 annually. They have always insisted that the current medical system is perfect and that an increase is unnecessary, resulting in a stalemate," and added, "In January this year, we even sent a final document requesting the quota to the Korean Medical Association and other organizations, but we have not received a response, which is regrettable."

He explained, "In this process, residents, who are national assets, have all left the patients' side. This makes things very difficult for patients," and said, "The government has stated that if the medical community comes with a reasonable and concrete proposal, it will not be bound by the numbers, and we are still waiting for the medical community's position."

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who recently expressed his intention to resign, is answering reporters' questions at the press corps back briefing held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 17th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

No Escalation in the Middle East... Significant Increase in This Year's R&D Budget

Regarding the recent instability in exchange rates and oil prices due to the possibility of escalation between Israel and Iran, Prime Minister Han said the situation is difficult to predict.

He said, "The key will be how long these geopolitical issues last," and added, "There is so much uncertainty in recent geopolitical issues that it is difficult to make definitive predictions."

However, he said, "The recent issues between Iran and Israel involve deep involvement from the United States, and all countries in the world hold the position that escalation into a full-scale war is undesirable, so there are factors that could lead to a resolution," and added, "The general consensus is that it will not escalate into a full-scale war."

Regarding the government's significant budget cuts to research and development (R&D), which sparked backlash from the science and technology community, Prime Minister Han emphasized, "This year, the R&D budget will definitely increase significantly, and if there is confidence that it will be used properly, the government and the president believe that a large budget should be allocated to R&D even if it means cutting other areas."

He explained, "The government lacked efforts to fully persuade R&D workers to agree to restructuring," and said, "After experiencing difficulties last year and changing direction, this year we have more time and can allocate more resources to areas we consider necessary."