Opposition launches all-out attack on Future Response Fund: “Trying to buy votes by selling the future”

[Financial News] Ahead of the second week of parliamentary audits, the People Power Party launched a barrage of criticism, labeling the Lee Jae-myung government’s Future Response Fund a “regime-maintenance fund.”
On the 11th, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk said on social media (SNS) that 1.7577 trillion won of next year’s 45.3862 trillion won in Future Response Fund project spending was politically motivated spending. He singled out the allocation of 1.1658 trillion won for a basic income program that provides rural and fishing-village residents with 150,000 won a month in local gift certificates, and 792.5 billion won for the Youth Culture and Arts Pass program. He criticized the government, saying, “The country’s debt is being piled up, with not the slightest intention of paying it back. They’re trying to buy votes by selling the future.”
Lim I-ja, the People Power Party’s policy committee chair, also joined the criticism, calling the Future Response Fund the “Future Extinction Fund.” She questioned whether the fund was being managed appropriately, noting that it was being used to provide official residences for civil servants, subsidize attendance at performances, and pay basic income, and that support for Korea Electric Power Corporation would total 46.6 trillion won by 2036. In this regard, Lim said, “Ninety-four percent of the fund’s programs are inflexible expenditures that require money to be paid out every year.” She criticized the plan, saying, “With 104 trillion won tied up while taking out 106 trillion won in high-interest loans, this negative spread from borrowing to invest is poised to saddle the public with nothing but a debt bomb.”
The People Power Party also categorized the introduction of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), real estate policy, a comprehensive survey of farmland, investment in the United States, and issues surrounding the South Korea-U.S. alliance as five major policy failures. Lim likened the Lee Jae-myung government to “a government that sets off with its doors open,” criticizing it: “It announces before reviewing, pushes ahead before preparing, and only looks for solutions after problems erupt.” She added, “We will continue rigorous policy scrutiny in the second week of parliamentary audits as well,” and stressed, “We will ensure that those responsible are held accountable for misguided policies.”

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