Ruling party faults Moon administration for ongoing troubles
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Loading... - Zihan Chen
- 22 Jul 2022
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South Korea’s ruling People Power Party got to work on the second half of the 21st National Assembly on Thursday, dedicating much of its first publicly delivered speech to blaming the previous Moon Jae-in administration for ongoing socioeconomic troubles.
Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader and acting chairman of the People Power Party, said in a speech Thursday morning that the party will spearhead recovering the country’s economic standing and resolve ongoing debacles by launching extensive tax relief measures and unfolding key reforms.
The floor leader said it was Moon, as well as the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea that brought the country down to where it is today, adding political moves taken for the opposition party’s own sake took a toll on South Korea’s economy and severely damaged people’s livelihoods.
“Why has the South Korean economy fallen into this challenging situation? It’s because of politics,” Kweon said.
“During the five years of the Moon Jae-in government, politics held back the economy. They prioritized their own political gain right before their eyes instead of the national interest and the people.”
Kweon said the Moon administration’s income-led growth initiative “ignored the basics of economics.” The initiative included a sharp hike in the minimum wage rate, which froze the employment market, forcing many small-business owners to close down and taking away chances of employment for low-wage earners, the floor leader said.
Moon’s 28 adjustments to real estate laws caused people to grow anxious about the housing market while apartment prices skyrocketed, he said. Kweon added that “unscientific” antivirus measures and reckless spending of the state budget marred people’s lives and damaged the country’s financial standing.
After Moon took office, the country’s national debt jumped from 660.2 trillion won ($502.5 billion) in 2017 to more than 1,000 trillion won as of end-April, according to data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. No improvements were seen despite such a huge increase in debt, Kweon contended.
Kweon denounced the Moon administration’s anti-nuclear power policies, blaming them for causing financial troubles to state-run energy agencies. Heads of government agencies picked by Moon have not stepped down, which is disrupting the start of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, he said.
“I am not blaming the former government for political purposes; we can only come up with solutions after we correctly identify the causes,” Kweon said.
“We cannot expect a good outcome by repeating the policies that have failed over the past five years. We need to set a new direction for running the country.”
The floor leader vowed that the People Power Party and the Yoon administration will solely prioritize improving people’s livelihoods, and that it will lift tariffs on imported agricultural goods and supply more food products to the market to control consumer prices. Read More…
