Park Sooyoung: Zero of 111 Public Comments Support Future Response Fund Bill During Notice Period

Received 105 objections and 6 requests for changes during the five-day public notice period
"Public comments ignored, too, after those from the Ministry of Finance and Economy"

Rep. Park Soo-young of the People Power Party said Tuesday that numerous objections were submitted during the public notice period for the Future Response Fund Act and amendments to the National Finance Act, while not a single comment supported them.

According to the comments on the proposed legislation related to the Future Response Fund, which Rep. Park received from the Ministry of Planning and Budget, the government collected a total of 111 public comments over five days, from August 24 to 28.

Not one comment expressed support. A total of 105 opposed the proposals, while six were classified as requests to expand financial support for early childhood education and childcare.

Yonhap News

Rep. Park said, "The public questioned the bills' effectiveness and the transparency of fiscal management, but the Ministry of Planning and Budget retained the key provisions and the Cabinet approved the bills in their original form on September 1."

Those who opposed the proposals raised concerns not only about the need to establish the fund but also about unclear operating and management standards, the possibility of overlap with existing fiscal programs, and an expansion of the government's discretionary powers. Some also said that managing funds across separate accounts could become more complicated and reduce operational efficiency.

There was particularly strong opposition to reforming local education finance grants. Some commenters expressed concern that funding for public elementary, middle and high schools could be reduced. They also argued that a provision allowing the fund's uses to be expanded by presidential decree could excessively broaden the government's discretion over fiscal management.

Rep. Park said, "Under the Administrative Procedures Act, the public notice period for legislation is generally at least 40 days, yet the government accepted comments for only five days," adding, "It pushed ahead with the bills without sufficiently gathering public input."

Rep. Park also claimed that the Ministry of Planning and Budget did not reflect requests from the Ministry of Finance and Economy to delete or amend provisions in seven articles of the Future Response Fund Act and three articles of the proposed amendments to the National Finance Act. "In addition to the 10 comments from the Ministry of Finance and Economy, none of the 111 comments from the public were reflected," he said, criticizing the fund as "a Fund for Ignoring the Future" rather than a Future Response Fund.

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