"Overcoming the Crisis Was Ultimately the State's Responsibility...
Personal Debt Has Soared"
President Lee Jaemyung stated that it is not something to feel unfair about when the debts of delinquent borrowers are forgiven. He explained that, ultimately, this is a responsibility the state should have borne, and since we now live as a single community, if we share and accept these costs collectively, we can actively pursue such policies.
President Lee made these remarks on the 14th during the digital talk live event "The Voice of the People Becomes Policy," held at the KOCCA Content Culture Plaza in Cheongnyangni-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. He added, "Right now, it feels like a huge burden. People even criticize it," and continued, "They ask why we are doing this for those people. But we should think more about the idea of community."
He expressed his hope for a more reformative approach to financial issues than what is currently in place. President Lee said, "Finance is just numbers, unlike the real economy," and continued, "There is a lot of room for policy adjustment. If you look at advanced countries, they quickly write off unpayable debts so that new growth can occur, just like new shoots sprouting. In our country, once you go into debt, you are chased for it until you die."
President Lee pointed out, "Advanced countries overcame the COVID-19 crisis using public finances, so their national debt increased while personal debt did not. In our case, everything was lent to individuals, so personal debt soared." He said that the 75 trillion won burden that the state should have taken on was instead shifted onto individuals.
He further explained, "In conclusion, while other countries overcame crises by increasing national debt, we shifted everything onto powerless individuals. Whenever we try to resolve this by having the public sector take on the financial burden, there is opposition. This is not desirable from a socioeconomic perspective."
Meanwhile, he also addressed the issue of concentration in the capital region. President Lee said, "A major task is balanced regional development. There is a lot of noise about housing prices in the capital area, but the fundamental problem lies in the concentration in the capital region," and added, "The most serious underlying issue is the extreme polarization. Eliminating and easing these gaps is what politics must do."
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