"If you give a lot"
"How much? Name your price"
"These days, the Financial Services Commission is working very hard. You are doing an excellent job."
On September 2, President Lee Jae-myung once again publicly praised Kwon Daeyoung, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, during a Cabinet meeting. Vice Chairman Kwon led the implementation of the June 27 real estate loan regulation, which was the first real estate policy of the Lee administration.
President Lee Jae Myung is speaking at the 'People Communication Campaign Part 2, Listening to the Heart of Chungcheong' meeting held in a town hall meeting format at Daejeon Convention Center on July 4. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
President Lee's remarks came after a discussion on fund investment and management plans, which followed a report by Han Seongsook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, on the creation of the Mother Fund (with a scale of 1.1 trillion won). President Lee stated, "We are living in an era of technological competition. When it comes to investing in risky sectors, the private sector may hesitate, but if the public sector is willing to bear some of the risk, investments could become much more active."
In response, Vice Chairman Kwon said, "We need more investment from venture capital," adding, "If we receive fiscal support, the financial sector can do 10 or even 20 times better." He then referred to President Lee's earlier remarks emphasizing "active fiscal policy and productive finance," and said, "We are preparing to actively pursue the productive finance that the President mentioned."
Upon hearing this, President Lee emphasized, "It is not easy to shift financial institutions from relying on interest margins (the difference between deposit and loan rates) to engaging in investment businesses. It would be ideal if the fiscal sector could take on risk as a model. The true ability lies in spending money well, not in saving it." Vice Chairman Kwon replied, "Even if you don't give us too much, if you just provide a reasonable amount of budget, we will maximize leverage with minimal fiscal input."
"If you give a lot"..."How much? Name your price"
President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Cabinet meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 2nd. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
President Lee then asked, "How much should we increase the related budget?" When the reply was, "The more, the better," he responded, "Name your price." When Vice Chairman Kwon mentioned "500 billion won," President Lee said, "Let's consider it. We need to give opportunities to companies, investors, and venture entrepreneurs, don't we?"
Afterward, President Lee remarked, "The Mother Fund is likely under the jurisdiction of the Financial Services Commission rather than the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and they are working very hard these days. You are doing an excellent job." When Vice Chairman Kwon said, "We will do even better," President Lee reiterated his encouragement, saying, "You are doing well."
Previously, President Lee had also publicly praised the Vice Chairman during a town hall meeting in the Chungcheong region in July. At that time, Kwon Daeyoung, who was then Secretary General of the Financial Services Commission, led the June 27 real estate policy, which included a key measure to uniformly limit the maximum amount of mortgage loans in the Seoul metropolitan area to 600 million won. President Lee introduced Vice Chairman Kwon as "the person who created the real estate loan restriction measures" and praised him, saying, "You did a great job."
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