People Power Party: "Next Year’s 800 Trillion Won Budget Is a Fiscal Gamble at the Expense of Future Generations"

On July 13, the People Power Party criticized the announcement by Park Honggeun, Minister of Planning and Budget, at the "2026 National Fiscal Strategy Meeting" presided over by President Lee Jaemyung, that next year’s budget would be set at over 800 trillion won. The party denounced this as "an irresponsible fiscal gamble at the expense of future generations."

Yonhap News Agency

Chief Spokesperson Park Sunghoon stated in a commentary on the same day, "The Lee Jaemyung administration has declared that it will increase next year’s total expenditure by more than 10% compared to this year, thereby ushering in the 'era of 800 trillion won' for the first time ever." He condemned the move as "fiscal populism funded by taxpayers’ money and nothing more than a self-serving plan to turn the national treasury into the ruling party’s own vault."

Chief Spokesperson Park pointed out, "The government is justifying fiscal expansion by citing temporary excess tax revenue from the semiconductor boom." He added, "Mistakenly treating this short-term tax increase as a permanent, fixed income and ramping up spending is a dangerous mindset, the consequences of which will be borne by future generations through their hard-earned money."

He continued, "Rather than boasting about the 'largest-ever budget,' the administration should first prove it has the 'best-ever ability to manage the economy.' The People Power Party will never tolerate such an irresponsible fiscal gamble at the expense of future generations."

Assemblyman Park Sooyoung also criticized the move in a Facebook post, stating, "The Lee Jaemyung administration raised this year’s budget by 8% compared to last year, and within just one year in power, enacted two supplementary budgets totaling 58 trillion won." He argued, "Due to this fiscal recklessness, the value of the won has plummeted, while exchange rates and prices have soared, wreaking havoc on people’s livelihoods. Nevertheless, the administration is now seeking to increase the budget by more than 10% again."

He added, "Over the past five years, 26 out of 37 advanced countries, including Japan, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, have reduced their debt, but in Korea, national debt continues to accumulate." He warned, "The semiconductor industry is cyclical and warning signs are already flashing. What will the government do if tax revenues fall short then? The hastily created Future Response Fund could end up becoming a ‘Future Collateral Fund’ or even a ‘Fund for Destroying the Future’."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.