Yoon Ho-joong, the Minister of the Interior and Safety nominee, evaluated the 'consumer recovery coupons' that will start being distributed from the 21st as "a policy meaningful for economic revitalization."
On the 18th, during a personnel hearing at the Public Administration and Security Committee of the National Assembly, Yoon noted in response to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Chae Hyun-il's inquiry that "some in the political sphere argue that the consumer coupon policy is merely a temporary measure with no effect on economic revitalization."
He said, "Currently, the growth rate has fallen to around 0%, and the potential growth rate has also dropped to around 1%." He added, "Although a large part of this cause is, of course, the decrease in surplus in exports, an even bigger issue is the stagnation of domestic consumption," and continued, "The way to sustain the growth rate is to revive domestic consumption," asserting that "in that sense, consumer coupons are meaningful policies for boosting domestic consumption."
Yoon stated, "Especially, those who are currently struggling are small business owners," and observed that "consumer coupons expire if not used within three months, thus they have the effect of increasing forced consumption, and because spending happens in the residential area, they also effectively support the sales of small business owners."
Meanwhile, in response to a query from People Power Party lawmaker Seo Beom-soo regarding the rumor that the nominee will use the Minister of the Interior and Safety position as a stepping stone to run for the governor of Gyeonggi Province ahead of next year's local elections, Yoon stated, "I have never thought that way."
In response to a similar inquiry from People Power Party lawmaker Park Deok-heum, Yoon said, "The Ministry of the Interior and Safety is an election support agency," and questioned, "When conducting election support duties, can it genuinely be seen as fair by the opposition to have someone become a candidate?"