People Power Party: “The 821 trillion won superbudget is runaway spending; the 162 trillion won Future Response Fund is a gimmick”

[Financial News] On the 2nd, the People Power Party strongly criticized the Lee Jae-myung administration’s 2027 budget proposal, calling it “a super-populist budget that threatens the future of the nation’s finances.” It said it would thoroughly scrutinize the 162 trillion won Future Response Fund, warning that it could undermine the National Assembly’s authority to review and approve the budget.
In a statement that day, Choi Soo-jin, the People Power Party’s senior deputy floor spokesperson, said the budget was “an irresponsible plan that increases spending by 12.8%, relying solely on a temporary rise in tax revenue from the semiconductor boom while putting preparations for an economic downturn and efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit on the back burner.”
The budget proposal submitted by the government for next year totals 820.9 trillion won. The People Power Party said the government had relied on a tax-revenue boom to increase the budget by about 150 trillion won in two years while ignoring its obligation to repay the national debt.
The party focused particular criticism on the Future Response Fund. Choi, the senior deputy floor spokesperson, argued that it violated the principle of gross budgeting under the National Finance Act, saying, “This fund allows up to 30% of its spending to be changed without National Assembly approval and fills at least half of its project costs with existing programs—a ‘recycled, piecemeal budget.’”
The party also criticized the government for channeling funding indirectly through funds and other means, without National Assembly review, into major national projects such as semiconductor support in Honam and investment in the United States.
The party also questioned whether the budget was being allocated appropriately. Choi, the senior deputy floor spokesperson, said, “The increased budget is concentrated on programs favoring large corporations, such as AI and semiconductors, and on populist spending such as Rural Basic Income, pushing people’s livelihoods and welfare to the back burner.”
The party said that reforming the method for calculating Local Education Subsidy Grants could also worsen local finances and widen regional disparities.
Choi, the senior deputy floor spokesperson, said, “The People Power Party will actively work to prevent the waste of taxpayers’ money by thoroughly scrutinizing the budget proposal, examining the Lee Jae-myung administration’s expansionary fiscal policy, gimmick funds and budgets that bypass the National Assembly.”


[email protected] Kim Gyeong-min Reporter