Future Response Fund Called "Lee Jae-myung's Slush Fund"; Park Hong-geun: "Entirely Baseless" [2026 Parliamentary Audit]

Yonhap News Agency

At a National Assembly audit on the 8th, lawmakers focused on concerns that the government’s design for a Future Response Fund worth more than 100 trillion won could turn it into “a slush fund for the Lee Jae-myung administration.” Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun countered that the claim was “completely unfounded.”

Park made the remarks at a National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Planning and Budget held by the Finance and Economy Planning Committee on the 8th, in response to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Im I-ja, who called for the Future Response Fund to be scrapped.

Citing a review by the National Assembly Budget Office that said “responding to a tax revenue shortfall without a supplementary budget is unconstitutional,” Im warned that the Future Response Fund could become a standing supplementary budget that circumvents National Assembly oversight. “You plan to build up 104 trillion won in surplus funds while issuing 106 trillion won in government bonds,” Im said. “With government bond yields above 4%, isn’t borrowing at high interest rates to earn returns at low interest rates a case of negative-spread fiscal management?”

In response, Park reiterated the government’s position that the fund had been designed in accordance with the National Finance Act, explaining, “The fund has two distinct types of accounts: financial and project-based.”

In response to criticism that the fund would ultimately become President Lee Jae-myung’s slush fund, Park forcefully rejected the claim, saying, “Political attacks like that do not change the facts,” and “That is absolutely not the case.”

Opposition lawmakers and academics are increasingly criticizing the government’s plan to issue 100.1 trillion won in deficit government bonds next year while setting aside 104 trillion won in surplus funds for the Future Response Fund, calling it “the contradiction of borrowing money to pile up cash.”

In response to criticism that it was inappropriate to set aside surplus funds for the fund while borrowing money, Park cited Norway’s example, saying the government must also consider the costs of sharp fluctuations in the volume of government bond issuance.

“Norway also issues government bonds continuously. If the volume issued fluctuates too much, it creates unnecessary costs, so maintaining a steady level is the official policy,” Park explained.

Park also stressed that concentrating the fund’s resources in a specific region—the southwestern region—was part of the government’s strategic investment in advanced industries.

In response to People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-young’s criticism that “the Future Response Fund is a slush fund for the Jeonnam cartel,” Park said, “That is absolutely not the case.” He added, “Building additional semiconductor fabs is not an issue for a specific region; it is a strategic national investment in the semiconductor industry.”

Park agreed with Democratic Party lawmaker Moon Jin-seok, who said that the attacks calling it President Lee Jae-myung’s slush fund were merely politically motivated rhetoric, saying, “I believe that criticism is completely unfounded.”

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