President Lee Presides Over Meeting of Senior Secretaries and Aides
Discussion Held on "Text Message Sender Qualification Certification System" to Prevent Illegal Spam
Measures to Provide Tenants with Information to Prevent Jeonse Fraud Also Addressed
"Bold Incentives for Corporate Investment in Non-Capital Regions... Preferential Treatment for Regions Across All Areas of Administration"
On the 5th, President Lee Jaemyung presided over a meeting of senior secretaries and aides at the Blue House, where he ordered a focused review of so-called "policies that people can truly feel," including measures to prevent illegal spam, prevent jeonse fraud, improve the class action system for consumer damage relief, and expand morning and nighttime childcare services. He also instructed his aides to consider, if necessary, pushing these measures forward swiftly through presidential decrees rather than legislation. In addition, he stressed that a bold system of incentives must be swiftly established so that companies can actively invest in non-capital regions, while identifying "collusion" as a cause of unstable grocery prices and calling for a review of a "price adjustment order system."
Blue House spokesperson Kim Namjoon said in a written briefing that day, "Following last week's meeting, we held in-depth discussions on 'policies that people can truly feel' that are highly important and urgent in people's lives," conveying the above.
At the closed-door session, participants discussed measures to prevent illegal spam, including the introduction of a sender qualification certification system for text messages and stronger sanctions on senders. They also addressed ways to provide prospective tenants with necessary information before signing contracts in order to prevent jeonse fraud. Kim explained that the meeting further discussed tasks on which the majority of the public agrees there is a need, such as improving the class action system for consumer damage relief and expanding morning and nighttime childcare services.
According to the spokesperson, after receiving the briefing, President Lee instructed that "the tasks discussed should be prepared without fail," and added that "to protect the rights of the people, you should also consider ways to push them forward swiftly through presidential decrees rather than laws, if necessary."
Earlier, in his public opening remarks, President Lee once again stressed his determination to dismantle the Seoul metropolitan area-centered unipolar system and to shift toward growth led by non-capital regions. He said, "A fundamental solution to the catastrophic real estate problem also depends on dismantling the unipolar system centered on the Seoul metropolitan area," and added, "It would be good if we could swiftly implement a bold system of incentives that can massively boost corporate investment in non-capital regions."
He also ordered a review of a system that would give preference or extra points to non-capital regions in the area of government procurement. President Lee said, "To achieve a major shift toward growth led by non-capital regions, we must above all institutionalize preferential treatment for those regions across the entire spectrum of national administration, including fiscal policy, taxation, finance, and procurement," pointing out that "in the field of government procurement, there appears to be no system for giving preference or extra points to non-capital regions." He went on, "If the utility and efficiency of goods produced in the Seoul metropolitan area and in non-capital regions are the same, it is only natural to first use goods from non-capital regions or give them extra points in bidding, and it would be good to prepare and implement such measures." He also asked that work on improving transportation infrastructure and preparations for relocating public institutions be expedited.
In addition, President Lee expressed concern that last year the population gap between the Seoul metropolitan area and non-capital regions exceeded as many as 1 million people. He assessed that this is an extremely rapid pace, noting that it has been only six years since the population of the Seoul metropolitan area surpassed that of non-capital regions. President Lee said, "We can no longer leave unattended, nor should we leave unattended, a unipolar system in which the Seoul metropolitan area, which accounts for only 12% of the national territory, sucks in population and resources like a vortex," warning that "the more saturation in the Seoul metropolitan area intensifies, the more the extinction of non-capital regions will accelerate, and the country's potential growth rate will inevitably decline."
He stressed, "Shifting from growth centered on the Seoul metropolitan area, which has already reached its limits, to growth led by non-capital regions is the most certain way to reopen the growth plate of the economy and build a foundation for sustainable national development."
President Lee: "Monopolies and oligopolies are forcing high prices... We will make use of the price adjustment order system"
President Lee also cited "collusion" as a cause of unstable grocery prices, criticizing that "monopolies and oligopolies are forcing high prices on the people," and ordered, "I want this to be corrected without fail by mobilizing the full force of state authority." He noted, "It is said that consumer prices have fallen to 2%, the lowest level in five months. It is the lowest in five months," but added, "Food prices, including rice prices, still appear unstable."
President Lee also mentioned a recent case uncovered by prosecutors involving collusion over flour and sugar prices. He said, "I hear that bread prices in our country are extraordinarily high compared with other countries, and it seems that the prices of flour and sugar are also factors," adding, "There is even talk that domestic flour prices rose even when international wheat prices plummeted. It must be because of collusion."
In this regard, President Lee called for the use of the price adjustment order system. He said, "If prices were raised through collusion, they should be lowered," pointing out that "companies briefly apologize, hold discount promotions, and then pretend nothing happened." He continued, "This time, manage the situation thoroughly to the very end so that such things do not happen. We should also make use of the price adjustment order system."
President Lee further said, "It seems that the prices of sanitary pads are also going down," reprimanding that "it was something they could have done at any time but did not." He had previously pointed out several times that domestic sanitary pad prices were excessively high compared with overseas. Since then, various companies have begun launching mid- to low-priced sanitary pads with significantly reduced prices. In addition, he pointed to structural problems in the prices of fruit, agricultural products, and livestock products.
Regarding the abnormal price situation, President Lee said it was "a problem of the national system," and suggested, "How about creating a task force (TF) that will intensively manage price issues over a specific period? It seems we need to come up with new methods that have not been used so far."
Meanwhile, President Lee mentioned the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, which will open on the 7th, and said, "I hear that a delegation of 130 athletes will compete for the Republic of Korea. I hope they will achieve results commensurate with the sweat and effort they have put in and also shine a light on the Republic of Korea." Together with his aides, he then chanted, "Go, Team Korea," wishing them success.
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