President Lee: "Economic 'lean years' created by previous administration... priority is restoring growth"

▲ President Lee Jae-myung

President Lee Jae-myung addressed criticisms that the government's budget proposal for next year lacks sufficient funding to tackle polarization, stating, "Unfortunately, we are currently facing 'lean years of growth' created by the previous administration, so we must first focus on restoring growth."

President Lee shared an editorial from a media outlet on his social media today (the 2nd), which pointed out that the government's 820 trillion won budget proposal for 2027 is relatively short on resources for "addressing polarization," and wrote his response alongside it.

He also added, "This does not mean we have scaled back welfare."

President Lee diagnosed, "If we fail to recover sustained growth and fall into zero growth, or ultimately negative growth, polarization will widen further and even lead to welfare reductions."

He continued, "'Giving up growth while expanding welfare' is impossible, while 'simultaneously expanding growth and welfare' is ideal but unrealistic," emphasizing that, "Inevitably, I believe this is a time to focus on growth and expand the pie."

President Lee noted, "While it may be hard to be fully satisfied, we are also striving to expand welfare," adding, "There is even criticism that it is an excessive welfare populism budget."

He then requested, "Only a year has passed, so please give us a little more time."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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