Jang Meets Finance Minister: "Future Response Fund Must Be Reconsidered, Fiscal Rules Need Legislation"

Jang Donghyuk: "Economic Policy of the Lee Administration Must Be Reconsidered from the Ground Up"

Jang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, met with Lee Hyungil, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy, on the 2nd and called for a fundamental review of the Future Response Fund from scratch. He also expressed the view that fiscal rules should be legislated to ensure sound public finances.

Jang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, is shaking hands and taking a commemorative photo with Lee Hyungil, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy, who visited the National Assembly on the 2nd to offer congratulatory greetings on his inauguration. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On the afternoon of this day, Jang met with Deputy Prime Minister Lee, who visited the National Assembly to offer his congratulations on Jang's inauguration. Jang stated, "(President Lee Jaemyung) is trying to create a Future Response Fund that would act like a personal slush fund," and pointed out, "If you are allowing the Future Response Fund to be created as an enormous pool of money that is free from any oversight—neither from the National Assembly nor from the economic ministries—and can be spent as a slush fund, then what is the meaning of the sound fiscal management that the Ministry of Finance has protected all this time? It would become meaningless."

Jang further urged, "We must carefully review the Future Response Fund from the ground up." He added, "If we allow this to pass, how will we argue against requests from ministries or local governments for 20 billion or 30 billion won in the future, and on what budgetary principles will we refuse them? The situation is frustrating beyond words." He also remarked, "The Lee Jaemyung administration's economic policy must be fundamentally re-examined from the basics."

Jang also noted, "(Deputy Prime Minister Lee) agreed on the need for mid- to long-term sustainability regarding fiscal rules," and explained, "We must legislate fiscal rules in this National Assembly session." He reiterated, "Recently, as tax revenues have increased due to a boom in the semiconductor industry, there are moves to turn it into a Future Response Fund and use it like a slush fund. To prevent such actions, fiscal rules are absolutely necessary."

Jang introduced Deputy Prime Minister Lee as his classmate from the Central Officials Training Institute. He also told Lee, "I hope that, with the spirit you had when you first entered the ministry after completing your training at the Central Officials Training Institute—when you walked into a new government office wearing your official ID badge, filled with both fear and excitement—you will once again look after the Korean economy faithfully in your position as Deputy Prime Minister."

Deputy Prime Minister Lee responded, "We will do our best, as the ministry in charge of the overall economy, to stably manage prices—the basis of people's livelihoods—and ease the polarization in various sectors of society, including housing and jobs." He added, "Since Representative Jang has experience in both the executive and legislative branches, if he shares his valued opinions for the people and the government, we will listen attentively and reflect them in our policy implementation. I hope we can continue to communicate frequently and create good policies together in the future."

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