Economic Sector Government Questioning Held Today
Opposition Criticizes Yoon's Failures on Tax Revenue Shortfall and Household Debt
Ruling Party Emphasizes Livelihood Support Policies Including Interest Rate Cuts
On the 11th, the ruling and opposition parties are expected to clash over major economic issues such as the abolition of the financial investment income tax, the tax revenue shortfall, and the payment of a 250,000 KRW livelihood support fund to all citizens during the National Assembly’s government questioning session. Given the upcoming Chuseok holiday, the offensive from both sides is anticipated to be intense.
The National Assembly will hold a plenary session at 2 p.m. that day to continue questioning government officials including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, Minister of Science and ICT Yoo Sang-im, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryeong, and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duck-geun.
The opposition parties, including the Democratic Party, plan to focus their inquiries on the government’s economic policy failures such as the recent tax revenue shortfall and the rapidly increasing household debt. Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Eon-ju stated that during the questioning, she will reveal the fundamental reasons behind the record-high tax revenue shortfall of 56.4 trillion KRW as of last year since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.
The government’s real estate policy failures are also expected to come under scrutiny. The Democratic Party has judged that the reason why mortgage loans account for 61.4% of the household debt, which recently reached 1,800 trillion KRW, is due to government policy mistakes. According to the opposition, more than 70% of mortgage loans from January to July this year originated from government policy financing. The Democratic Party believes that the sharp rise in housing prices this year stems from the failure to manage mortgage loans.
Discussions will also continue regarding the 250,000 KRW livelihood support fund for all citizens. Kim Won-i, a lawmaker from the same party, said that after reviewing government measures to support small business owners and self-employed individuals, they will consider the possibility of providing a livelihood recovery support fund to revitalize local commercial districts. Cha Gyu-geun of the Innovation Party stated that he will focus on discussing the government’s plan to abolish the financial investment income tax.
Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-gye is questioning Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae during the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 2nd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
On the other hand, the ruling People Power Party is expected to focus on highlighting the government’s economic achievements. Lawmaker Lee Jong-bae plans to introduce the Yoon Seok-yeol administration’s livelihood support policies by questioning whether the government is considering lowering interest rates to stimulate domestic demand, additional plans for tax and financial support, and policies to diversify export items.
They also plan to scrutinize the effectiveness of the opposition’s proposed 250,000 KRW livelihood support fund. People Power Party lawmaker Kang Seung-gyu intends to point out the negative impact of the livelihood support fund policy on national fiscal soundness.
The recent blame game surrounding the T-mep (Timon and Wemakeprice) incident is also expected to be fierce. The Democratic Party views this incident as a failure of government management that has increased damage to small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners. However, the ruling party holds the position that it is unfair to place all responsibility for the T-mep incident on the financial authorities.
On the 2nd, at the plenary session held in the National Assembly, members of the People Power Party attached placards to their seats. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
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