President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a Cabinet meeting held at Government Complex Sejong on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a Cabinet meeting held at Government Complex Sejong on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that the government's proposed tax reform package remains open to change, stressing that public objections should be taken on board. "It is desirable to accept objections when listening to public opinion," Lee said. "Policy is different from self-evident truth on which there is no disagreement. Putting forward a proposal is not about pushing through a finalized plan unilaterally — there is room for revision."

The remarks signal that the tax reform plan could be adjusted based on public feedback gathered during the legislative notice period, which runs through Aug. 20, as public opinion on the proposal remains divided.

Cheong Wa Dae chief spokesperson Kang Yu-jung conveyed the president's comments in a written briefing, saying Lee chaired the 35th Cabinet meeting at Government Complex Sejong that morning — the fourth such meeting held there since the launch of the people's sovereignty government.

Lee also directed each ministry to identify "productive jobs." Responding to a report that the National Tax Service's delinquent tax collection unit had recovered more than three times its personnel costs, Lee said there are "quite a few cases where hiring additional people and putting them to work yields more benefit than the cost — bluntly put, more revenue."

Lee then turned to acting Korean National Police Agency Commissioner Yoo Jae-seong, saying that protecting the lives of citizens is the government's foremost responsibility. "What citizens have been most worried about recently is the issue of investigations," he said. "The police bear greater responsibility."

He went on to instruct the agency to prepare a report on measures to address crime, saying that "relief for crime victims, establishing the truth, and the arrest and punishment of offenders must all be handled properly."

The closed-door session approved 19 presidential decree proposals and four general agenda items. Kang said 13 of the items were related to the Lee administration's state affairs agenda, including a partial amendment to the enforcement decree of the Medical Dispute Mediation Act to expand compensation coverage for serious medical accidents involving mothers with severe disabilities, and a partial amendment to the enforcement decree of the Equal Employment Act to establish procedures for short-term parental leave taken in one- to two-week increments.


moone@heraldcorp.com