President Lee has three-hour dinner with ruling party leadership: “The party and government must move as one”

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung held dinner on the 11th with Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and floor leader Han Byung-do, asking for cooperation in passing next year’s budget bill and saying that the party and government must move as one.
Kang Yoo-jung, Cheong Wa Dae’s senior presidential spokesperson, said in a written briefing that Kim proposed the government quickly draw up bold measures to ease polarization and boost consumption. President Lee also urged Presidential Chief of Staff Im Kwang-hyun and Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Choi In-ho to communicate closely with the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.
The dinner lasted two hours and 50 minutes, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:20 p.m. It was the first dinner President Lee and Kim had together in 78 days, since August 25, shortly after Kim was elected party leader.
Ahead of the meeting, attention focused on differences between the ruling party and Cheong Wa Dae over the basic deduction for the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax for owners of a single home who do not live in it. The government’s proposal submitted to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea would apply different basic deduction amounts: 1.4 billion won for owners of a single home who live in it and 1.2 billion won for nonresident owners of a single home. Within the Democratic Party of Korea, lawmakers—particularly those from the capital region—called for the 1.4 billion won deduction to apply regardless of residency.
The government initially sought to lower the basic deduction for nonresident owners of a single home to 900 million won, but, accepting the ruling party’s concern that the tax burden could increase, submitted a proposal to keep the current amount of 1.2 billion won. The Democratic Party of Korea reportedly asked the government to make the deduction amount uniform at the Senior Party-Government Council on the 8th. Cheong Wa Dae was reportedly displeased that calls within the ruling party to expand the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax deduction had been made publicly without prior coordination.
The Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Prosecution, the confirmation hearing for Justice Minister nominee Lee Yong-cheol, and efforts to launch a parliamentary investigation into Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae were also cited as expected topics before the dinner.
However, in its briefing, Cheong Wa Dae did not say whether these issues, including the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax, were actually discussed.
[email protected] Seong Seok-woo Reporter