Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 17th, "The KOSPI index is barely clinging to 2,500 to 2,600, but if the Democratic Party comes to power, it will hit the 3,000 level without any special changes." This is aimed at Kweon Seong-dong's remarks, criticizing Lee's so-called "rightward drift."
On the same day, Lee stated during a Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, "People Power Party criticizes the Democratic Party's economy-centered policies as a rightward drift, but the Democratic Party is originally an economy-centered party."
Lee said, "Former President Kim Dae-jung overcame the IMF crisis and created the foundation for IT (information and communication technology), and former President Roh Moo-hyun established the growth framework for Korea through the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA)" and added, "The Democratic Party has pursued growth for a better life. Which party does not seek economic development?"
He continued, "South Korea is a country that respects the market economy order based on capitalism. We cannot ignore the economy and growth" and said, "It is the People Power Party that ignores the economy and growth, thinking only about martial law and permanent power."
Lee emphasized the necessity of "fair growth" by mentioning the recent issues of easing inheritance tax and amending the Commercial Act. In particular, he claimed that the issue of "Korea discount" (domestic stock market undervaluation) would be resolved if the Democratic Party comes to power, stating, "The economy is the Democratic Party, and security is also the Democratic Party."
Lee stated, "Recently, I talked about correcting the inheritance system, which is not to propose a tax cut but to prevent tax increases" and remarked, "Both prices and housing costs have risen, but maintaining the tax system has increased taxes. Workers' salaries have not increased, but taxes have gone up, which is why we need to fix it."
He added, "If there is stock price manipulation, we need to punish those few controlling shareholders who profit by artificially lowering stock prices after breaking up sound companies, which aims to create a fair market" and noted, "Originally, it should be amended in the Capital Market Act, but since the People Power Party opposes it, we have no choice but to amend the Commercial Act."
Earlier, the People Power Party criticized Lee's proposal to ease inheritance tax discussions as "fake rightward drift." They also pointed out that Lee has exhibited a "flip-flopping behavior" regarding the inclusion of consumer coupons for livelihood recovery in the supplementary budget. Kweon Seong-dong stated at a press conference the day before, "Lee claims to enhance corporate competitiveness but is actually dedicating himself to anti-corporate and anti-market legislation."
Lee emphasized that he would show a flexible attitude regarding economic and livelihood recovery. He said, "When the world changes and the situation changes, if one does not change, they are a fool" and added, "Since the economic situation is difficult, we are focusing more on listings, but this does not mean abandoning welfare and distribution altogether."
He stated, "What I can say for sure about economic issues is that the Democratic Party is better than the People Power Party."