President Lee Calls for Bold Action on Market Collusion and Tax Arrears

President Lee Jae-myung ordered bold action to address normalization tasks, such as correcting market collusion and collecting tax arrears, stating, "We must act boldly by temporarily increasing personnel to get the necessary work done."

President Lee made these remarks while presiding over a work report at the Yeongbingwan at the Blue House, which included the Ministry of Finance and Economy (National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Public Procurement Service), the National Data Agency, the Financial Services Commission, and the Ministry of Planning and Budget. He stated, "There are too many abnormalities in our society. There is an aspect where the abnormal has become normalized as if it were normal."

First, President Lee pointed out, "While the Korea Fair Trade Commission has been working very hard recently, collusion and price manipulation have become a part of daily life."

He criticized the situation, saying, "For example, it is a common grievance among the public that when international oil prices rise, the prices of refined petroleum products are raised in advance, but when international oil prices fall, the product prices are not lowered easily." He added, "It has been left neglected as if it were a matter of course, but in fact, that should not be the case."

He continued, "Situations where the public and the economy suffer for the benefit of a few have been left neglected as if it were natural, but they are now being corrected," and explained, "Great effort is required in the process of normalizing the abnormal."

Regarding the temporary increase in personnel for this purpose, he added, "However, we should not go down the path of 'let's increase the number of civil servants while we have the chance.' This is about doing the necessary work on a temporary basis."

President Lee also asked, "Aren't there hundreds of trillions of won in overdue national taxes and non-tax revenues?" and questioned, "People naturally think that if they don't pay what is overdue, there is nothing that can be done, but how unfair would that be to those who have paid their taxes?"

He then asked if the amount of collected tax arrears had increased significantly, stating, "If we mobilize personnel to press for payment, those who forgot will pay, and those who had the capacity but chose not to pay will see this attitude and pay."

President Lee emphasized, "Normalizing the abnormal is a task that still has much left to be done, and when doing so, let's be bold," adding, "I hope we do not give up on substance by being bound by old regulations and formalities."

He further added, "Moreover, with the employment situation being poor, the more of these productive public jobs we create, the better," and noted, "Once the situation is resolved, we can reduce the personnel."

(Photo: Blue House Press Corps, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.