Kwon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, drew a line regarding the Democratic Party’s demand for an additional budget allocation. During a policy meeting at the National Assembly today (14th), Kwon stated, “In a situation where the current budget is not being properly executed, we absolutely cannot accept the supplementary budget, which is solely aimed at satisfying Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung’s local currency populism for his presidential campaign.”
He criticized that “Ultimately, Lee’s goal is nothing but cash distribution populism through local currency,” and added, “His mind is entirely focused on the presidential election plan, without any concern for the national economy.”
Kwon emphasized, “It is appropriate to first inject 398 trillion won, which is 67% of this year’s budget, early in the first half of the year to boost domestic demand and stimulate the economy, and then examine the necessity of a supplementary budget for any deficiencies.”
He further mentioned, “The People Power Party, along with the government, will begin discussions on a supplementary budget proactively after reviewing the economic situation through unprecedented early budget execution,” and urged, “The Democratic Party should wait for the right timing.”
Kim Sang-hoon, the policy committee chair, also firmly opposed what he called the “future generational exploitation law” reflecting only Lee’s voice regarding the local currency law, stressing that “the urgent matter is the prompt execution of the 2025 budget and the swift handling of urgent livelihood economic bills.”