The People Power Party (PPP) has labeled the Lee Jae-myung government's "war supplementary budget" as a vote-buying scheme, warning it will "stimulate exchange rates and prices, harming the livelihoods of citizens in the long run." The party emphasized it will urge corrections at an upcoming ruling-opposition-government luncheon meeting. It also criticized the budget for including items that do not match the character of a war supplementary budget, such as support for TBS and solar energy projects.
PPP leader Jang Dong-hyuk said at a field supreme council meeting held in Namdong-gu, Incheon, on Tuesday, "The Lee Jae-myung government's supplementary budget is a wrong choice that will negatively affect our economy in many ways." He added, "Even before attacking it as a vote-buying budget or a populist budget, I am deeply worried about the future of Korea and the Korean economy."
"The value of the Korean won has been falling to record lows. While most countries see their currency values move within the range of the dollar index, the won has plunged more than twice as much, and it has fallen further since the Iran war," Jang said. "In this situation, if they push through a supplementary budget and scatter money, it will only signal to the international community that the won's value will continue to decline."
"I urge President Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party to face squarely how dangerous and reckless this is for our economy," Jang said. "If a supplementary budget is pursued in this situation, one thing is clear — exchange rates and prices will rise further, foreign investment will flee, and it will deal a fatal blow to the livelihoods of the people."
Jang also took aim at individual budget items that do not fit the stated purpose of a war supplementary budget. "They call it a war supplementary budget, yet there are numerous items that don't match its purpose," he said. "They scatter cash to the public, but there is no budget to support people like truckers and delivery drivers whose livelihoods are directly tied to fuel costs."
"Instead, they allocate budget to TBS — which ran a deficit after paying high appearance fees to Kim Eo-jun — support solar energy projects that only benefit Chinese companies, and even include a luggage carry service budget for Chinese tourists. I don't understand why they would time it now. It is hard to accept why they are essentially pushing a 'China supplementary budget' under the pretext of war," he added.
Jang also directed criticism at former Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-o, a preliminary Democratic Party candidate for Seoul mayor, over controversy surrounding an official trip to Cancún. "The truth about Jeong Won-o's Cancún tourism has been revealed," Jang said. "Despite faster routes being available, he took a bus and deliberately went through Cancún, spending two nights and three days on the layover — that is not normal."
"This was a high-cost official trip spending nearly 30 million won of district budget, yet the review documents bear no signatures, and the employee who accompanied him was a past perpetrator of workplace bullying," Jang said. "He hired such a person, took them on four overseas trips, and even granted them rapid promotion. Given that this person still works at Jeong Won-o's campaign, one cannot help but suspect this is 'Jeong Won-o's Kim Hyeon-ji,'" he said.