People Power Party: "Blind Supplementary Budget Is a Reckless Spending Spree That Drained National Coffers"

"Kicked Away Cooperation with a Dictatorial Budget"
Criticism Also Raised Against Government's 'Bad Bank' Initiative

The People Power Party criticized the first supplementary budget of the Lee Jaemyung administration, which passed the National Assembly under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, stating that it is "nothing more than a reckless budget spree that has depleted the national coffers under thoroughly political calculations."

Choi Sujin, floor spokesperson for the People Power Party, said in a commentary on the 5th, "The Democratic Party pushed through the 32 trillion won supplementary budget without any bipartisan agreement," adding, "By forcing through this 'blind supplementary budget,' the Democratic Party has abandoned cooperation with its own 'dictatorial budget.'"

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Choi continued, "The supplementary budget includes populist cash handouts in the form of consumption coupons, while the practical livelihood budget demanded by the opposition was thoroughly excluded," criticizing it as "blatant populism aimed at buying votes with taxpayers' money, nothing more than a 'pre-election cash splash.'"

She also emphasized, "The Democratic Party has revived special activity funds for the presidential office and others, which it had previously cut itself, as if nothing had happened," calling it "the height of hypocrisy and a classic example of reducing national finances to a political tool."

The People Power Party also expressed opposition to the government's proposed 'bad bank' system for toxic debt relief. The bad bank plan involves a debt adjustment institution, funded by Korea Asset Management Corporation, collectively purchasing individual debts of up to 50 million won that have been in arrears for more than seven years, and then either writing them off or restructuring them.

Choi stated, "We must not forget that irresponsible debt forgiveness, disguised as goodwill, ultimately harms the public and undermines social trust and market order."

Song Eonseok, floor leader, also wrote on Facebook the same day, "Policies in which the government repays debts on behalf of individuals inevitably lead to moral hazard," adding, "While there are certainly unfortunate cases among long-term delinquents, there are growing concerns that even gambling debts will be indiscriminately written off."

He further stated, "Above all, forgiving even foreigners' debts with our citizens' tax money poses a high risk of reverse discrimination against our own people," and strongly urged that this be rectified.