Ruling Party: "Bring Semiconductor Boom Gains to People's Livelihoods"... Calls PPP's Street Protests "Dereliction of Duty"

Seeks increased funding for local government finances and other areas in next year’s budget review

The Democratic Party of Korea said it would adjust next year’s budget ahead of deliberations on the spending plan to ensure that the benefits of growth driven by the semiconductor boom reach households and local economies. It criticized the People Power Party’s street protests against the special counsel bill on fabricated indictments, calling them a dereliction of duty that ignores budget deliberations.

A view of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster General Industrial Complex.

In a statement on the 15th, Democratic Party floor spokesperson Lee Juhee said, “During the budget adjustment process, we will carefully screen out programs that continue simply out of habit and ensure that public funds are properly spent where they are truly needed to improve people’s lives.”

Lee described next year’s budget, worth 820.9 trillion won, as “a budget that achieves both growth and fiscal soundness.” She said total revenue is projected to reach 880.8 trillion won next year, up 30.4% from this year’s original budget, thanks to the semiconductor boom, while the national debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to fall by 3.3 percentage points to 48.3%.

In its budget review, the Democratic Party identified four priority areas for increased spending: infrastructure, support for local government finances, three major livelihood projects, and investment in a safe society.

“The National Assembly’s task in reviewing this budget is to ensure that the benefits of growth generated by the semiconductor industry are shared widely, reaching small business owners’ shops, jobs for young people, and communities across the country,” Lee emphasized.

Lee also continued her criticism of the People Power Party’s street protests. She said the party was devoting its efforts to an outdoor rally at Gyeongbokgung Station, a Supreme Council meeting in front of Cheong Wa Dae, and a series of one-person protests ahead of the launch of a subcommittee of the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts. She urged the party to “respond to the public through responsible budget deliberations and legislation to support people’s livelihoods in the National Assembly.”

Democratic Party spokesperson Lee Yongwoo also issued a statement that day, criticizing the main opposition party for having “abandoned the National Assembly and taken to the streets in the midst of a budget session, when it should be scrutinizing next year’s national finances,” calling it “a dereliction of duty that has abandoned people’s livelihoods.”

In response to the People Power Party’s claim that the special counsel bill on fabricated indictments is a “get-out-of-jail-free law,” Lee countered that the provision on whether to maintain indictments and the authority to request the transfer of cases had already been removed, calling the claim “blatant false propaganda that sets up a straw man just to knock it down.” He urged the People Power Party to end its street protests and return to the National Assembly.

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