President Lee Jae-myung was said to have visited the National Tax Service on the 16th after finishing a briefing from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

On the 11th, at the Government Sejong Convention Center in Sejong, Lim Gwang-hyun, Commissioner of the National Tax Service, answers President Lee Jae-myung's question during the Ministry of Economy and Finance (National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Public Procurement Service)–National Data Agency briefing on 2026 leap-forward economy and trusted data. /Courtesy of Yonhap News

Lee was said to have had dinner at a gomtang restaurant in Sejong after finishing the ministry briefing at the Government Complex Sejong that day.

Afterward, Lee was said to have made an encouragement visit to the National Tax Service. Lee has been receiving ministry briefings in Sejong since on the 11th. This is the first time Lee has made an encouragement visit to a specific ministry after a briefing. In particular, it is the first time a president has visited the National Tax Service since 2011.

Lee was said to have visited the National Tax Service's collection division and the taxpayer advocate's office, guided by National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyeon. The collection division is the department in charge of the arrears management unit that the National Tax Service will fully implement next year. Lee was quoted as telling staff, "You're working hard. You're working hard even at this hour." Lee then added, "Ask the Commissioner to buy you a delicious dinner."

The National Tax Service plans to establish a "national tax arrears management unit" next year. There are currently 1.33 million national tax delinquents, and the taxes they have not paid are said to amount to 110 trillion won. The unit will check how delinquents are living and ask about their willingness to pay taxes, among other roles.

The National Tax Service initially sought to deploy 2,000 personnel over three years. But on the 11th, during the National Tax Service briefing, President Lee Jae-myung said, "You can immediately increase it to 3,000–4,000." Accordingly, the National Tax Service was said to plan to further expand the unit's staffing.

National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyeon said, "We recently piloted the unit with 1,400 delinquents, and within ten days, about 200 paid 300 million won in cash, and some other delinquents submitted plans to pay 6.5 billion won in installments, showing results."

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