The People Power Party criticized the government's announced tax reform plan, stating that the increase in corporate tax and security transaction tax, along with the raising of the major shareholder standards, would strengthen the trend of exiting the domestic stock market. They also pointed out that with the sharp drop in the KOSPI index, 100 trillion won in corporate market capitalization has evaporated, indicating that an economic crisis could begin.
Chairperson Song Eon-seok of the People Power Party and the floor leader stated at an emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 4th, "The KOSPI fell by 3.88% the day after the announcement of the tax reform plan by the Lee Jae-myung government and the Democratic Party of Korea," adding, "100 trillion won in market capitalization evaporated in just one day."
Chairperson Song noted, "The increase in corporate tax, the increase in security transaction tax, and the raising of major shareholder standards, commonly referred to as the Lee Jae-myung tax bomb, have hit the stock market head-on," and added, "Floor leader Kim Byeong-ki hinted at the possibility of raising the major shareholder standards again due to the shock in the stock market, but fellow party member Jin Sung-joon is making frivolous comments that the stock market is not collapsing."
He continued, "While the irresponsible behavior of the Democratic Party continues, over 110,000 citizens have agreed to a petition opposing the reduction of the major shareholder capital gains tax, leading to a fierce backlash against the tax bomb," emphasizing, "While promising a KOSPI era of 5,000, the Lee Jae-myung government and the Democratic Party are robbing the pockets of 15 million people, causing national outrage that has become uncontrollable."
Chairperson Song diagnosed that the sharp drop in the KOSPI index due to the tax reform plan marks the beginning of an economic crisis. He stated, "Long-term stock price increases cannot be simple. It is even more impossible with the enforcement of stricter commercial laws and the yellow envelope law," adding, "It is essential to strengthen the fundamental value and intrinsic value of corporations along with institutional support."
He added, "At the very least, there should be no enforcement of legislation that constrains corporations. The People Power Party will do everything possible to protect Korea's stock market and economy from the tax bomb of the Lee Jae-myung government and the Democratic Party."
On the 31st of last month, the government announced the '2025 tax reform plan,' stating it would uniformly increase the corporate tax rate by 1 percentage point across all tax brackets. The plan also includes lowering the major shareholder standard for the capital gains tax on stocks from the existing 5 billion won to 1 billion won.