President Lee Jae-myung asked for public discussion on whether to introduce a sugar levy.
On the 1st, in a post titled "Sugar levy controversy, the harder the issue, the more we must debate" on X (formerly Twitter), Lee wrote, "The more difficult the issue—like the sugar levy, real estate tax reform, and institutional reform to ease polarization—where interests are intricately entangled, the more there is distortion and misunderstanding," adding, "That is why candid debate and public discussion based on sound logic, facts, and real-world cases are essential."
Sharing a news article titled that the World Health Organization (WHO) formally recommended a sugar tax, Lee said, "I expect a deeper and cooler-headed debate on whether to introduce [the sugar levy]," and added, "I decline unconditional opposition or far-fetched claims of manipulation and distortion that try to trap the other side in a tax-hike frame while turning a blind eye to the country's future and a fair sharing of health insurance contributions just to seek political gain."
Lee also explained the sugar levy as "a system to impose a health charge on certain cases of overuse to reduce the overuse of sugar that causes lifestyle diseases, and to use the collected levy for the prevention and treatment of diseases caused by sugar overconsumption, thereby reducing the health insurance contribution burden on the general public."