Prime Minister Kim: "In the New Year, We Will Completely Overcome Unrest...A New Leap Forward for the Nation"

Prime Minister Kim Minseok stated on the 31st, "In the new year, we will surely overcome the national unrest completely and embark on the path of economic recovery, national unity, and a new leap forward for the country."

Prime Minister Kim Minseok is attending and speaking at the extraordinary cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 31st. 2025.12.31 Photo by Jo Yongjun

On this day, presiding over the last Cabinet meeting of the year at the Government Seoul Office, Prime Minister Kim said, "It is thanks to all of you, the people, that we have weathered the storms of unrest, found clues to economic recovery, and returned stably to the international diplomatic stage."

Prime Minister Kim, who visited the National Museum of Korea the previous day to view the special exhibition 'Our Yi Sun-sin,' remarked, "It occurred to me that the people themselves are Yi Sun-sin," adding, "In the new year, the government will devote itself to serving the people with more transparent, more efficient, and more ethical governance."

Meanwhile, the government deliberated and approved a total of six items on this day, including four bills for promulgation and two presidential decrees. Among them were a revision to the Criminal Act abolishing the 'family exemption rule,' which exempted relatives from punishment for property crimes-a provision abolished for the first time in about 70 years since the Criminal Act was enacted in 1953-and a revision to the Local Tax Act raising the corporate local income tax rate by 0.1 percentage points for each tax base bracket. The abolition of the family exemption rule follows a Constitutional Court decision last year that found the provision unconstitutional. Recently, cases of fraud and embezzlement among relatives, such as those involving golfer Park Seri and broadcaster Park Suhong, have become social issues, accelerating discussions on the amendment, which passed the National Assembly plenary session the previous day.