The Democratic Party of Korea announced its top 10 pledges for the 21st presidential election, led by the theme of 'the era of 100 trillion won in private investment in AI (artificial intelligence)' on the 12th. The core focus is on fostering new industries, including AI, and strengthening support for K-content and strategic industries. It reflected the growth-priority stance of candidate Lee Jae-myung, who declared a moderate conservative approach. The pledges also included the issuance of local currency, which the Democratic Party had proposed at 15.1 trillion won, and the separation of the prosecutor's investigation and indictment powers. However, a constitutional amendment centered on the restructuring of power was excluded.
The policy headquarters of the Democratic Party of Korea's Central Election Strategy Committee announced 10 major policy pledges this morning at the National Assembly, focusing on 'recovery, growth, happiness' and 'national integration.' The 10 major pledges submitted to the National Election Commission by the Democratic Party include ▲becoming a leading economic powerhouse globally ▲overcoming internal strife and restoring K-democracy’s status to become a democratic nation ▲enhancing vitality for households and small businesses ▲becoming a strong nation in diplomatic security ▲protecting the lives and safety of citizens ▲promoting Sejong as the administrative capital ▲creating a society that respects labor ▲ensuring that all, including children, youth, and the elderly, thrive ▲overcoming the low birthrate and aging crisis and taking care of everyone from children to the elderly ▲actively responding to the climate crisis.
◇AI tax support and 100 trillion won in private investment
The top policy is 'the leap to become one of the top three countries in AI,' which candidate Lee has consistently emphasized since announcing his presidential bid. The key points are ▲increasing the AI budget share above advanced country levels and creating 100 trillion won in private investment ▲securing more than 50,000 high-performance GPUs and establishing a national AI data integration cluster ▲achieving 50 trillion won in K-culture exports. Previously, candidate Lee noted on the 14th of last month during the first schedule of the party's internal primary that he would 'open the era of 100 trillion won in AI investment.'
He also stated plans to build an 'AI highway' through the construction of AI data centers and to foster national innovation hubs. He pledged to promote the 'Everyone's AI' project to ensure that all citizens can freely utilize AI at advanced country levels and to cultivate the defense industry as a national representative industry, along with tax reductions for defense export corporations' research and development. In particular, plans were made to create a national fund involving corporations, citizens, the government, and national pension funds, which is an industry emphasized by candidate Lee as part of 'economic growth.'
◇Pushing for the yellow envelope law and amending the commercial law to impose 'shareholder loyalty duties'
While publicly advocating for corporation-centered growth, the basic progressive camp's pro-labor stance was also evident. This included pushing for the yellow envelope law (amendment of Article 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act), ▲clarifying the prohibition of the comprehensive wage system in the Labor Standards Act ▲introducing a wage distribution system to establish equal pay for equal work criteria ▲activating collective bargaining agreements at industrial, sectoral, and regional levels ▲extending industrial accident insurance to 'self-employed individuals with high occupational accident risks' ▲and introducing a four and a half-day work week.
The amendment to commercial law explicitly states that the duty of shareholders' loyalty will be expanded from 'the company' to 'both the company and shareholders.' Jin Sung-jun, the policy committee chair, noted, 'Amending the commercial law to protect minority shareholder rights is a policy that the Democratic Party cannot give up, and I do not believe it will hinder economic growth, but rather will be a transformative moment to eliminate the factors causing the Korea discount.'
◇Lee Jae-myung's regional currency and compensation for fallen rice prices in the Grain Management Act
The pledges, requiring significant fiscal input, include ▲gradually raising the eligibility for child allowance payments to 18 years ▲expanding eligibility and payment amounts for the earned income tax credit and child tax credit ▲and amending the Grain Management Act to compensate for differences in rice prices. However, it was said that the funds would be covered by adjusting government expenditure structures and by projected revenues projected to increase over the next five years. Jin stated, 'The fiscal situation is very difficult, and we must implement it in stages,' and 'I will announce a specific funding plan when we take power.'
Lee Jae-myung's representative policy, the local love gift certificate (local currency), was also included as a core pledge for small businesses. The specific scale was not specified. However, according to the supplementary budget proposed in February this year, it is around 15.1 trillion won. At that time, the Democratic Party proposed a supplementary budget of 35 trillion won, which included ▲13.1 trillion won for a consumption coupon worth 250,000 won per person for livelihood recovery ▲and 2 trillion won for a 10% discount support for local currency. This accounted for 43% of the total. To this end, the Democratic Party plans to prepare a second supplementary budget after it takes power.
◇Dividing the prosecutor's role and expanding the number of Supreme Court justices… constitutional amendment excluded
As a means to restore democracy, he stated plans to ▲introduce a public recall system for members of the National Assembly ▲and initiate confirmation hearings for the commanders of the three military branches. However, the constitutional amendment centered on restructuring the power was excluded from the top 10 pledges. In the previous 20th presidential election, 'promoting a phased constitutional amendment, including a four-year presidential term system' was included in the top 10 pledges. Jin stated, 'I will reveal a separate plan and outline regarding constitutional amendments.' The Democratic Party also stated plans to promote judicial reform through the introduction of online trials and increasing the number of Supreme Court justices, and to pursue prosecutorial reform through the separation of investigation and indictment powers and the introduction of a disciplinary removal system for prosecutors.
◇Raising the credit card deduction based on the number of children and providing tax credits for elementary education expenses
The Democratic Party plans to raise the income deduction rate and deduction limits for credit cards proportional to the number of children to respond to the decreasing birthrate and aging population. They also stated plans to include fees for Taekwondo classes and other arts and physical education facilities, which function as childcare facilities for elementary school students, in the education tax credit category. They plan to phase in the so-called 'Our Child Independence Fund' and to strengthen state support for infertility treatment for couples.
In terms of balanced national development, they plan to ▲constitute special autonomous local governments based on the five large mega-regions (Seoul, Southeast, Daegu, Central, Honam) and build regional express railroads ▲and amend special laws to strengthen the autonomous powers of the three special autonomous regions (Jeju, Gangwon, North Jeolla). They also stated plans to complete the administrative capital of Sejong and establish the Sejong Assembly Hall and the president's office in Sejong during their term.