Democratic Party vows to spread semiconductor boom gains to everyday lives

The Democratic Party of Korea said Sunday it would ensure that the gains from the semiconductor boom are reflected in the daily lives of ordinary citizens.

Floor spokesperson Lee Ju-hee said in a statement that the party would "carefully filter out projects that have continued by inertia during the budget adjustment process and make sure resources are properly directed to where they are truly needed in people's lives."

Regarding next year's budget proposal — a record 820.9 trillion won in scale — Lee said total revenue next year is projected to reach 880.8 trillion won ($661 billion), up 30.4 percent from this year's original budget, driven by the semiconductor boom. Even with record-high spending planned, the national debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to fall 3.3 percentage points to 48.3 percent, Lee added.

Lee said "it is the National Assembly's job in this budget review to ensure that the fruits of semiconductor-driven growth spread evenly to small-business owners' shops, young people's jobs and communities across the country," and identified four priority areas for increased spending: infrastructure, local fiscal support, three major livelihood projects and investment in a safer society.

The party also criticized the People Power Party for staging street protests in opposition to the so-called fabricated-indictment special prosecutor act.

Lee said the PPP had "poured its energy into a street rally at Gyeongbokgung Station, a supreme council meeting in front of Cheong Wa Dae and a relay one-person protest at the very moment the budget committee review was getting under way," and called on the party to "answer to the people not with slogans shouted into the air at street rallies, but with responsible budget scrutiny and livelihood legislation on the floor of the National Assembly."

Spokesperson Lee Yong-woo also criticized the PPP, saying "the main opposition party has abandoned the National Assembly and taken to the streets in the middle of a budget session that should be focused on next year's national finances," calling it "a dereliction of duty that throws the people's livelihoods aside."

On the PPP's characterization of the special prosecutor act as a "jailbreak law," the party said "the clause on deciding whether to maintain charges and the right to demand case transfers have already been deleted entirely," dismissing the claim as "blatant false agitation — setting up a straw man and beating it down."