South Korea’s Lee says country must focus on growth and expand the economic pie

President Lee Jae-myung says South Korea has reached a “growth lean season” and must concentrate on rebuilding growth before it can distribute a larger economic pie.

Lee made the remarks on July 2 in a post on X, formerly Twitter, where he shared a Hankyoreh editorial titled “Growth-centered 820 trillion won super budget, further strengthening needed to ease polarization.” The editorial called for more resources during parliamentary budget deliberations to address inequality linked to the spread of artificial intelligence and widening gaps in property and stock ownership.

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This is a growth lean season created by the previous administration, so we must first focus more on recovering growth.

Lee wrote that the country must first focus on growth recovery, describing the current situation as one created by the previous administration. He warned that failing to restore sustained growth, resulting in zero or negative growth, could widen polarization and even lead to cuts in welfare.

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Abandoning growth while expanding welfare is impossible. Expanding growth and welfare together would be ideal but unrealistic, so for now I believe we must focus on growth and enlarge the pie.

“Abandoning growth while expanding welfare is impossible,” Lee said. He added that expanding growth and welfare at the same time would be ideal but unrealistic, and that the government therefore had to focus on growth and enlarge the economic pie for now.

Lee also acknowledged that the public might find the effort insufficient, but said his administration was working to expand welfare. He noted that the government had faced criticism over what opponents called an excessive welfare-populist budget and asked the public to give it more time, saying only one year had passed.

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It has only been one year, so please give us a little more time.