President Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday described the fallout from the Middle East war as "not a passing shower but a massive storm with no clear end in sight," using the word "crisis" 28 times throughout his address and vowing not to "miss the golden time for economic recovery." Lee also called for "bipartisan cooperation" from the National Assembly on the 26.2 trillion won ($19.2 billion) war supplementary budget.
In his policy speech to the National Assembly, Lee characterized the state of the public economy as "wartime conditions," saying "extraordinary situations demand truly extraordinary measures." He added that "the longer preemptive responses are delayed, the more exponentially the damage to the economy and the people will grow," describing his feelings as "desperate."
Lee outlined "protecting the socially vulnerable" and "improving the economic structure" as core objectives. He explained a plan to provide up to 600,000 won in local currency to citizens in the bottom 70% income bracket. He also highlighted that the supplementary budget would be "debt-free," funded by 25.2 trillion won in surplus tax revenue and 1 trillion won from existing fund reserves.
"Even if the war ends tomorrow, it will inevitably take a considerable period before energy supply and demand return to previous levels," Lee said, describing the supplementary budget as a starting point for transforming the economic structure. He also made clear his intention to "respond with a zero-tolerance principle to collusion and hoarding."
Lee concluded by appealing, "Let us save together, share together, and overcome this together." Immediately after the speech, he walked over to the seats of People Power Party lawmakers to shake hands and request their cooperation.