President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed his view that the government cannot increase fiscal spending to curb rising prices. Despite pressure to increase fiscal spending, he reaffirmed that it is necessary to maintain a ‘sound fiscal’ stance to prevent inflationary concerns.
On November 1, President Yoon hosted a town hall-style Emergency Economic Livelihood Meeting at the Hebrus Cafe in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and said, “When people say they can’t afford to live, we should be able to listen and provide answers right away. But it’s not easy while serving as president. It all comes down to money.”
The meeting was attended by about 80 people, including small business owners, taxi drivers, people without homes, long-distance commuters, and government officials.
President Yoon stated, “We cannot recklessly increase the budget to use fiscal spending. If government fiscal spending increases significantly, prices will rise,” recalling Kim Jae-ik, a former presidential economic advisor who was martyred in the Aung San terrorist attack.
President Yoon praised former advisor Kim, saying, “In the late 70s and early 80s, inflation was severe, but he managed to control it. The first thing he did was to control government spending. At that time, there were political demands to increase spending, but he managed to control prices by controlling it.”
He also expressed his intention to maintain a ‘sound fiscal’ stance by reducing unnecessary support to suppress price increases but to ensure ‘selective welfare ‘ by not sparing necessary support.
President Yoon said, “We have to reduce some of what we used to spend and reallocate it to areas where the people are crying out for help, but those who used to receive it resist with all their might. If we try to take from here and give there, those who used to receive and can’t anymore will start a movement to oust the president.” He even mentioned responses like ‘Let’s see at the next election’ and ‘Let’s impeach him.’
The fact that he directly mentioned a ‘presidential ousting movement’ due to budget cuts suggests that despite political pressure, the current government has no choice but to shy away from ‘universal welfare,’ which even the middle class has been receiving, such as COVID-19 support funds.
President Yoon said, “In this era of excessive politics, I won’t care about pros and cons. I said I would do politics for the people, not for the election, and for those in need. I clarified this in my budget speech in the National Assembly yesterday.” He added, “Helping you all by preparing various measures could be seen as a sacrifice of the common people in this era of excessive politics.”
By. Kim Bo Seon
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