Hyeong-il Lee, “After semiconductors, the service industry is next… We request legislative cooperation.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hyung-il announced that he would focus on fostering the service industry to drive the Korean economy following the semiconductor industry.

On the 14th, Deputy Prime Minister Lee presided over the Emergency Economic Headquarters meeting, the Economic Relations Ministers' Meeting, and the Service Industry Development Task Force (TF) at the Seoul Government Complex and said, "We need second and third players who will run together with semiconductors and lead growth. One of them is the service industry."

He explained the background that the service industry has a very large job creation effect, and recently, high value-added industries such as K-content have taken off and are attracting attention as a new growth engine.

In particular, it gave meaning to the fact that it is closely related to the daily lives of the people, engages a large number of young people, and contributes to the revitalization of the local economy, helping people's livelihood.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee said, "The government will kill two birds with one stone, growth and people's livelihood, by fostering the service industry. To this end, we ask for the National Assembly's active interest and cooperation so that the currently proposed Service Industry Development Framework Act can be enacted within the year."

He added that the government is preparing three core social policies, including housing, jobs, and microfinance, and will collaborate with all ministries and national research institutes to come up with measures to polarize polarization that the public can feel.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee discussed at the meeting a plan to revitalize the five major tourist areas by encouraging foreign tourists, who are currently concentrated in the metropolitan area, to enter the country directly through local airports.

Last month, the government selected the top five ultra-wide tourist areas centered on five local airports, including Gimhae Airport, Daegu Airport, Cheongju Airport, Yangyang Airport, and Muan Airport.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee announced the goal of achieving 5 million visitors to the five major tourism zones by 2029. To this end, we plan to invest approximately 410 billion won in national and local funds next year and review special regulations linked to the Mega Special Zone Act, which is scheduled to be proposed soon.

We are also pursuing an AI demonstration project to solve problems experienced by tourists visiting Korea, such as transportation and language, with artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee announced that during the 'Korea Grand Festival', a national discount festival held from the 29th to the 15th of next month, the discount rate for digital Onnuri gift certificates will be increased from 7% to 10%, and a 'Win-Win Consumption Lottery' will be operated that will pay a total of 1.7 billion won in winnings, and will provide various consumption and discount benefits, such as up to 50% discount on agricultural, livestock and fishery products.

Details will be announced within this month after discussion with relevant ministries.

In accordance with the maximum oil price system implemented to alleviate the impact of the Middle East war, the 11th maximum price, which will be applied from midnight on the 17th, will be announced at 6 pm on the 16th.