“[Seoul=Newsis] Jaewoo Lee, Reporter – Former Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, Won Hee-ryong, on the 23rd, criticized Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, regarding the inheritance tax reform, and expressed his stance that it is appropriate to talk about abolishing the inheritance tax entirely for the sake of the next generation rather than fluctuating the percentage of child deductions.
On his social media, Won stated, ‘When the 2030 generation becomes the backbone of Korea 20 years from now, should they be stressed by the inheritance tax issue again? Do we want to nurture companies that will be subservient to large foreign capital from countries like China?’
Won pointed out that those who were the first labor-force generation since the founding of Korea are now over ninety years old, and those who accumulated wealth through their own efforts in a free and democratic Korea are starting to pass it on to the next generation. However, he lamented that the 50% inheritance tax is causing hardship for the next generation.”
He criticized the Democratic Party for equating proud corporations that have sustained and grown Korea with “bad conglomerates” and demonizing the wealthy whenever the inheritance tax is discussed, while only proposing policies such as expanding the spousal deduction that benefit their core supporters, the 4050 generation, without addressing the real issues facing the 2030 generation.
Won argued that recognizing the inheritance tax adds motivation to productive activities and economic dynamism and suggested that the introduction of a capital gains tax, modeled after Sweden, could also resolve debates over conglomerates.”