The People Power Party criticized the ruling party for pushing forward the supplementary budget, broadcasting laws, the Yellow Envelope Act, and the four agricultural laws, referring to them as 'populism legislation.' They stated that they would carefully verify the candidates during the ministerial confirmation hearings, which will begin soon.
Song Eon-seok, Chairperson and floor leader of the People Power Party, said during an emergency committee meeting at the National Assembly on the 7th, 'The Lee Jae-myung government has prepared a budget of 12 trillion won for distributing money while issuing 21 trillion won in government bonds through this supplementary budget.'
He emphasized, 'The Democratic Party, while passing the supplementary budget unilaterally, has revived the special operation expenses, which were criticized last fall as unnecessary slush funds by the presidential office,' adding, 'In reality, they have cut the livelihood budget and reduced the defense budget by 90.5 billion won.'
The chairperson also noted, 'The populism supplementary budget is expected to lead to populism legislation. The Democratic Party claims it will force through the three broadcasting laws and the Yellow Envelope Act, which is a demand of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, as well as the four agricultural laws, which are demands from the Korean Farmers Federation,' stating, 'The National Assembly has turned into a vending machine where cash pours out when President Lee Jae-myung presses the button.'
With regard to the ministerial candidate confirmation hearings starting on the 14th, he stated, 'There seems to be no candidates without prior convictions or suspicions among the nominees. It appears they are determined to only appoint individuals full of prior convictions and controversies,' adding, 'The People Power Party will rigorously verify the ability and morality of the candidates in collaboration with the people to halt the arrogant and unilateral politics of the Lee Jae-myung government.'
The chairperson expressed concern that the Lee Jae-myung government has maintained a complacent attitude regarding the impending deadline for the reciprocal tariffs.
He highlighted, 'If there is no agreement on tariffs, a maximum tariff of 25% will be imposed, and if reciprocal tariffs are added, it will deal a significant blow to Korea's exports,' stating, 'The public is anxious that the response is too lax with the deadline approaching.'