Ruling, opposition parties clash over 162-trillion-won 'Future Response Fund' at national audit

Ruling and opposition lawmakers clashed Thursday over the government's 162 trillion won ($121 billion) Future Response Fund during a national audit of the Ministry of Planning and Budget at the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Planning Committee.

People Power Party lawmaker Im Yi-ja criticized the fund as a "backdoor transfer account" designed to bypass National Assembly oversight, calling it a "minus account" that exploits the name of future generations and an "unfair account" that siphons resources from local governments.

She went further, asking whether the fund was ultimately "President Lee Jae Myung's personal slush fund," and called for its withdrawal, saying it would "ruin the future."

When Planning and Budget Minister Park Hong-keun pushed back — saying "that is absolutely not the case" and that "political attacks do not change the facts" — Im told him to "answer only what is asked."

Democratic Party lawmaker Moon Jin-seog rebuffed the characterization, saying a slush fund is "money used to buy whatever one wants without any oversight," and that attacking the Future Response Fund in those terms "is no more than partisan language."

He added that the fund is, "simply put, a single fund to secure future growth engines."

Minister Park, also a Democratic Party member, said he believed the "slush fund" label was "a completely groundless claim."

Meanwhile, the audit session was thrown into disarray before it began when People Power Party lawmakers attached placards to their laptops bearing slogans such as "Withdraw the Future Response Fund that ruins the future," "The Future Response Fund exploits school budgets," and "The Future Response Fund is Lee Jae Myung's slush fund."

Committee Chairman Cho Seung-rae of the Democratic Party repeatedly asked the People Power Party to remove the placards, calling them "outside the normal range of what has been agreed upon." After negotiations between the two parties' negotiators, the People Power Party removed the placards, and the audit began around 10:30 a.m. — about 30 minutes behind schedule.