President Yoon Seok-yeol salutes the national flag with members of the State Council ahead of a cabinet meeting held at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul on the 7th. [이승환 기자]When President Yoon Seok-yeol announced that he would preside over the meeting of the chief secretaries on the 11th of last month, just one day following he took office, what message would come out first was everyone’s interest. President Yoon, who was a former prosecutor and had no political experience, put forward rather abstract and large concepts such as ‘fairness and common sense’ throughout the presidential election and ‘liberal democracy’ at the inauguration ceremony, so there was an observation that a similar story would come out at the first chief secretary’s meeting.
However, the first and most discussed topic at all of President Yoon’s meetings was ‘economics’. At a weekly meeting of senior aides, President Yoon emphasized the difficulties of the economic situation and urged them to find a way to stabilize prices, and he ordered the loosening of regulations that made it difficult for businesses. He was also at the State Council. At the first official cabinet meeting on the 26th of last month, he was the first to mention the amendment to the ‘Enforcement Decree of the Income Tax Act’ to stabilize the real estate market. At the cabinet meeting on the 7th, he asked Lee Jong-ho, the Minister of Science and ICT, who is an expert in semiconductors, for a lecture, saying, “Semiconductor is a national security asset, the core of our industry, and the backbone of our economy, accounting for 20% of total exports.” . This is a good example of President Yoon’s central focus on the economic field.
In President Yoon’s public remarks over the past month, the most talked regarding thing is ‘price’. Since it is a problem that can give a direct blow to the lives of ordinary people, President Yun has ordered several times to solve the problem of inflation. However, the current inflation cannot be resolved in a short period of time because it is a global problem and has been exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A high-ranking official at the presidential office said, “Inflation rises due to a large increase in demand and rises due to insufficient supply. Currently, the aspect of inflation due to supply is large, which is difficult to solve in a short period of time,” he said. The increase in inflation can be suppressed to some extent by fiscal and monetary policies, but it takes a long time when the cause is a shortage of supply.” The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has taken the lead in lowering tariffs in part, but it is a measure that is inevitably short-lived.
Prime Minister Han Duk-soo is showing his will to solve the problem with Prime Minister Han Deok-soo at the center when it comes to the easing of various regulations that impede businesses. At the senior secretary’s meeting on the 30th of last month, President Yoon welcomed the announcement of corporate investment plans poured in following the Korea-US summit, saying, “Now is the time for the government to respond by loosening the regulations that block corporate investment.” “I went to the global market with a sandbag. “It is difficult to compete and compete. With the recognition that all ministries are regulatory reform ministries, we need to boldly abolish these regulations that hold back business and economic activities.” President Yoon declared, “I will take the difficult and complicated regulations myself.” The Prime Minister’s Office is already preparing for the launch of the Regulatory Innovation Strategy Meeting. As it is an issue that President Yun brought up, Prime Minister Han is known to have requested that President Yoon personally preside at least once every two or three months, including the first meeting.
The challenges that President Yoon must solve in the future are also focused on the economy. In addition to the so-called ‘Semiconductor Special Act’ passed by the National Assembly in February by an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, President Yoon emphasized the cultivation of semiconductor-related talents. At a cabinet meeting on the 7th, President Yoon said, “The key to the semiconductor industry is to foster excellent human resources.” Here too, he emphasized deregulation by saying, “If there are regulations that we need to loosen to foster talent, we need to loosen them boldly, and if there is something that the government needs to provide financial support, we should boldly support it.”
The real estate-related issue, which was the biggest issue during the transition committee period, but has not started off for a month following taking office, is also one of the economic issues that the Yun Seok-yeol administration should promptly pursue. Since the housing price problem centered on Seoul and the metropolitan area, which has risen to the zenith under the Moon Jae-in administration, has become the biggest driving force for regime change, President Yoon has no choice but to take a drive. After the inauguration of the new government during the transition period, President Yoon has foretold a complete overhaul of the real estate tax system by launching the ‘Task Force for the Normalization of Real Estate Taxes’. In addition, the repeal or amendment of the ‘Three Leases Act’ passed in 2020 by the Democratic Party of Korea following defeating the opposition of the people at the time is also a topic to be discussed. However, the ‘1st new city TF’, which was the biggest issue in the election for the Gyeonggi governor, was launched on the 30th of last month under the leadership of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and had already held its first meeting.
The formation of a public-private joint committee, which was expected to become President Yoon’s ‘advisory body’, is also not speeding up. Some are talking regarding speed control, saying, ‘There is a risk that the boat will go to the mountains’ if too many committees are crowded. An official from the presidential office said, “As it was the president’s promise, we will implement it, but we will slow it down a bit.”
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