[Reporter’s Notebook] Ruling Party Poised for a Sudden Shift After Local Elections

"There are no elections between the June local elections and the April 2028 general election. This is the right time to push ahead with reform tasks that could not be attempted because of their impact on voter sentiment." That was the remark a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party made to this reporter while raising the need for a real estate tax reform. The lawmaker said that higher property taxes, which President Lee Jae-myung had hinted at indirectly, and possible cuts to the long-term holding special deduction for single-home owners could come under full-scale discussion based on the July tax reform plan. With the People Power Party attacking the Democratic Party over the abolition of the long-term holding special deduction, and the Democratic Party calling that an "malicious frame," the comment can easily be read as meaning, "Once the election is over, we will change course."
Real estate tax reform is not the only sensitive issue that Democratic Party figures say will be pushed in earnest after the local elections. Other items are piling up across the board, including reform of gift and inheritance taxes, the introduction of a sugar levy to strengthen the finances of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), permission for large supermarkets to offer dawn delivery to counter Coupang, relocation of part of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, raising the retirement age, abolishing breach-of-trust charges, administrative restructuring such as integrating Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province, Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, and the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Megacity, constitutional revision, and pension reform at the National Pension Service (NPS).
Among these issues, many differ between the party's public stance and what is being discussed behind closed doors, much like the long-term holding special deduction issue. For example, the plan to allow dawn delivery by large supermarkets was put on hold without a clear position after small business owners, led by the National Merchants Federation, pushed back. Inside the party, however, lawmakers are considering handling it after the elections. The abolition of breach-of-trust charges was originally promised to the business community alongside three rounds of revisions to the Commercial Act, but only the revised Commercial Act has taken effect, and the breach-of-trust reform proposal is now expected to emerge only toward the end of the year. The extension of the retirement age was also something the Democratic Party had pledged to labor groups, saying it would produce a tripartite council of labor, management, and government agreement within last year. So far, there has been no progress, and the mood now is to revisit the issue after the elections.
The reason the Democratic Party is openly talking about a shift in tone after the elections is President Lee Jae-myung's soaring approval ratings. With the president's halo effect pushing Democratic Party support close to 50 percent, many analysts say the local election landscape has tilted sharply. Since victory is seen as all but assured, attention is already turning to what comes next.
Of course, the Democratic Party would argue that carrying out necessary reforms without being swayed by public opinion is a matter of principle. Its logic is that a ruling party with a majority in the National Assembly is entering a period with no elections, and failing to reform even then would be almost sinful. But from the public's perspective, a mismatch between words and actions can only amount to deception, even if the cause is noble. Even if some institutional improvements are made, if trust in politics, already at rock bottom, falls further, can one really say that one-sided reform is ultimately good for a democratic society?
uknow@fnnews.com Kim Yun-ho Reporter