Lee Jae Myung: "If Budget for Consumption Coupons Is Not Possible, Use It for Youth Jobs"

Proposal to Discuss the Issue at Tomorrow's Policy Consultation Meeting

Lee Jae Myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on February 19 regarding the supplementary budget, "If it is impossible to allocate a budget for consumption coupons, why not use the funds to create jobs for young people?"

During the Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on this day, Lee said, "I hope we can discuss this issue at the policy consultation meeting scheduled for tomorrow."

Lee Jae Myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 17th. 2025.2.17 Photo by Kim Hyun Min

Previously, the Democratic Party had proposed its own supplementary budget plan totaling 35 trillion won, suggesting that a 'Livelihood Recovery Grant' of 250,000 won per person be distributed to all citizens in the form of consumption coupons. However, the People Power Party has opposed this proposal, calling it 'populism,' and even some within the opposition have expressed concerns about securing the necessary funding.

Lee explained, "The People Power Party also mentioned an AI (artificial intelligence) supplementary budget at their party-government consultation yesterday, and the Bank of Korea stated that a supplementary budget of 15 to 20 trillion won would raise the growth rate by 0.2 percentage points. Since both the ruling and opposition parties, as well as government authorities, agree on the need for a supplementary budget, I hope a conclusion can be reached at tomorrow's policy consultation meeting."

He went on to say, "The Democratic Party has previously proposed a 500 billion won budget for job creation and startup support in the supplementary budget. If implementing consumption coupons is truly impossible, then why not use the budget for job creation and startup support?"