The Democratic Party of Korea said it will accelerate measures on housing costs, youth asset building and small business support, based on public sentiment it gauged during the Chuseok holiday. The party said economic indicators are improving but that people still find daily life difficult, citing grocery prices and the property market. Responding to supporters worried about recent approval ratings, the party said it would unite with the government and the presidential office to deliver results on livelihood issues and strengthen its command of the political agenda.
Kwon Chil-seung, chair of the party's policy committee, said on the 27th at a press briefing at the National Assembly that "going all in on livelihood issues" would be the top priority for the regular parliamentary session after Chuseok. "What weighed on us most was, again, livelihood," Kwon said. "Headline economic indicators have improved, but life as people feel it is not easy." He added: "Grocery prices, education costs and the management burden on small business owners and the self-employed cannot be explained by economic indicators alone. We will work to make sure the economic recovery reaches people's lives."
The party said it will concentrate its legislative efforts on lowering essential living costs, including housing, so that people can feel their spending actually fall. "Policy only has meaning when people can feel the change in their shopping baskets and in their paychecks," Kwon said. "We will start by cutting spending that is hard to avoid, such as housing and care."
As a key example, Kwon pointed to an overhaul of the tax credit for monthly rent. "We will improve programs such as the monthly rent tax credit and expand housing support tailored to different life stages," he said. "We will also make sure the public housing the government announced is supplied at prices people can afford and at the time it is needed."
Youth asset building and support for small business owners and regional economies will also be pursued as major livelihood tasks after Chuseok. "Demand among young adults for help building assets is high," Kwon said. "We will improve programs so that young people who work do not find marriage and having children a burden." He also said the party would strengthen support for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners, adding that it would "make sure the export boom and economic growth spread to everyone, down to neighborhood streets."
The party also listed invigorating capital markets, supporting investment in the United States and safety measures for military personnel among its six priorities.
The party said it would in particular reflect in future policy the concerns about the property market and property taxes that it heard during the Chuseok holiday. "There were many voices worried about the economy as people actually experience it, and interest in the property market was especially strong," chief spokesperson Park Sung-joon said. "In the regions, there was a lot of interest in and comment on property tax policy." He added: "We are well aware of the public's concerns, and we will work to faithfully reflect public sentiment in policy."
On supporters' concerns about recent approval ratings, the party said it would respond with unity between the party, the government and the presidential office and with policy results people can feel. "Among our supporters, there was a lot of interest in how approval ratings would change after Chuseok, and their worry about the ratings came across as genuine," Park said. "Party members and supporters told us to become a strong ruling party, with the party, the government and the presidential office united around the president." He added that supporters had urged the ruling party "to take the initiative in the political arena and show policies that work and that people can feel."
The party raised concerns about excessive criticism from within the ruling bloc and the progressive camp. "On the harsh criticism coming from within the democratic and progressive camps, there were voices asking whether it had gone too far, saying too much is as bad as too little, and asking whether it really helps the Lee Jae-myung administration," Park said.
On judicial issues, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de's refusal to renominate a Supreme Court justice, the party said it would maintain its existing critical stance. Park said that among citizens he met over the holiday, there were comments such as "Why is Jo Hee-de acting like that?" and "It looks like he is walking the path of a politician rather than a jurist." He said: "He smiled in front of the president when they met, and then announced the refusal to renominate once the president left on an overseas trip. Citizens were highly critical, saying things like it does not look like a chief justice to turn around and stab someone in the back, and that it is not how a person should behave."
On security issues, including an explosion in the Demilitarized Zone believed to have been caused by a landmine, the party defined the People Power Party's attacks as "conspiracy theories" and said it would respond actively. "There was strong criticism that the People Power Party is going beyond partisan conflict and mass-producing conspiracy theories over the DMZ explosion and the repatriation of North Korean soldiers from Ukraine, fanning public anxiety," Park said. He added: "A full on-site investigation began yesterday, so the People Power Party's conspiracy theories are nothing more than a far-fetched claim."
The party said it plans to pursue both livelihood results and reform tasks in the parliamentary audit of government agencies that begins in earnest right after the holiday. "The Democratic Party will do its utmost to make this a regular session that revives livelihoods and completes reform," Park said, urging the People Power Party not to "be preoccupied with criticism for its own sake and unreasonable obstruction, but to compete over how to help the people live better."
