Minister Park Hong-geun emphasizes the largest budget plan ever... ‘Semiconductor cycle will be fine until next year’

The largest budget plan ever... The need for bold and speedy investment

“Semiconductor cycle is good until next year… Future Response Fund is by no means a cheap money deal.”

(Sejong = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Se-won = Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-geun said on the 8th that Justice Minister candidate Kim Seung-won, who was suspected of receiving favors related to the approval of clinical trials for COVID-19 treatments, "seems to have some unfair aspects."

Minister Park appeared on YTN radio's 'Jang Seong-cheol's News Hall' this morning and mentioned the suspicions surrounding Candidate Kim, saying, "It is an incident in which Rep. Han Dong-hoon initiated an investigation when he was the Minister of Justice," and "It is a matter that even resulted in a suspended indictment during the time of Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung."

He added that, despite this, the opposition party said, "I don't know where the data was obtained, but we talk about it," and that Candidate Kim expressed regret over the mistake in the process of delivering civil complaints, saying it was "inappropriate."

Yong Hye-in, a candidate for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, expressed her opinion that she needs to reflect on herself.

Minister Park said that Candidate Yong is "one of the juniors I know well and care about," and added, "I think public opinion is trending more toward the idea that excessive greed and irrational numbers are a bit against the public's sentiments and certain things like equity and fairness."

At the same time, he added, “I think there is a need to look back and see if the person (Yong Hye-in) has brought this upon herself.”

When asked whether it would be advisable for Candidate Yong to give up his proportional representation, attend a personnel hearing, and then serve as minister, Minister Park remained silent, saying, "I don't think it's right for me to say this or that when it comes to where to go."

However, he mentioned the criticism coming from the younger generation that Candidate Yong may have received "too many preferential treatment," and said, "I understand that there are criticisms that, as a young politician, there is a need to take into account such sentiments."

In response to next year's budget plan being the largest ever with a total expenditure exceeding KRW 820 trillion, Minister Park explained the government's decision by saying, "This is a golden opportunity for us to take the lead in reorganizing the semiconductor-based AI (artificial intelligence) industry," and "It is a time when bold and speedy investment is desperately needed."

When it was pointed out that there were concerns about a decline in tax revenues after the semiconductor boom ended, he responded, "I believe that at least the tax revenue forecast for next year will be roughly right, continuing from this year. I think it will be okay until the next year," and added, "How long this cycle will last for the next three to five years will depend on the semiconductor market."

Minister Park drew a line by saying that the Future Response Fund, which is being established at a scale of 162 trillion won, is “created by law” and “is by no means (the government’s) cheap money.”

He added that the Future Response Fund "submits a fund operation plan to the National Assembly in the same way as the general budget, accounting, or other funds. Changes should only be made within the range of 20 to 30%, but the fund cannot be changed by suddenly designing a new project that has not been previously reviewed by the National Assembly."