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Choo Kyung-ho, a People Power Party lawmaker from Dalseong, Daegu, who is running for mayor in the June 3 local election, criticized the Lee Jae-myung administration on the 3rd for advancing a large supplementary budget as the election approaches, saying, “If you talk about people’s livelihoods, you must take responsibility rather than just seek credit.”
Choo, a former deputy prime minister for economic affairs, wrote on Facebook that while the government publicly claims to prioritize livelihoods, the substance and timing make it difficult to avoid the charge that this is a vote-buying handout.
He said the government’s planned relief for high fuel prices would provide 100,000–600,000 KRW (about $75–$450) per person to the bottom 70% by income, with funding structured as an 80% central government and 20% local government match. That lets the central government take the credit while shifting the burden to municipalities — a predatory arrangement, he argued.
Choo warned that transferring the costs of centrally decided policies onto local governments cannot be called supporting people’s livelihoods. If local governments cannot keep pace with the central government’s accelerated timetable, this is not policy but a political show that will drain local finances, he said.
He called on the government to immediately convert the fuel-relief payments into a fully state-funded program.
If a full conversion proves infeasible, he urged the government at minimum to fully fund municipalities whose per-capita gross regional domestic product (GRDP) ranks in the bottom 70%.
Using up local coffers to win political favor cannot be justified in the name of serving people’s livelihoods, he added, and he urged the government to confront the crisis in local finances and adopt responsible fiscal measures.
The People Power Party has labeled the government’s 26.2 trillion KRW (about $19.65 billion) supplementary budget an election cash handout and is pushing to cut it.
Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, told a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on the 2nd, “They’re distributing up to 600,000 KRW (about $450) to 70% of the population and even including movie and lodging discounts and support for arts and culture. They’re handing out movie tickets to buy votes in the local elections. They call it a ‘war budget,’ but in reality it’s an election budget.”
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