Chief of staff chairs senior secretary meeting

Presidential Chief of Staff Im Gwang-hyeon [Yonhap]
Presidential Chief of Staff Im Gwang-hyeon [Yonhap]

Presidential Chief of Staff Im Gwang-hyeon announced Monday that the presidential secretariat has established a "Salary Defense Task Force" to reduce living costs for salaried workers and increase their real disposable income. Im had directed the creation of the task force last week.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Ahn Gwi-ryeong released a written briefing on the senior secretaries and advisers meeting chaired by Im that afternoon.

At the meeting, Im said there is a self-deprecating saying among workers that "a paycheck account is just a bus stop" — money passes through briefly and moves on. "A paycheck account should not be a bus stop where money merely passes through, but a lake where it can stay for a long time," he said.

Im said the president, during his time as party leader, had established a "Salary Defense" unit directly under his office to plan and develop policies for salaried workers.

Im said the government is pursuing measures including easing eligibility requirements for the basic deduction on comprehensive income tax, raising the cap on tax credits for monthly rent payments, and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Im also said a plan to strengthen the retirement pension system — including a phased mandate beginning in 2028 requiring companies to set aside retirement pension funds outside the firm — would help prevent unpaid retirement benefits and improve returns. He said the secretariat would work with the National Assembly to ensure the relevant legislation passes as soon as possible.

Im said the government is also preparing to include in next year's budget a broader cashback program for transit costs, full tuition support for children of regional national university students, a higher government subsidy rate for child-care services, and a new child independence fund. "We will do our utmost to ensure the budget passes on time," he said.

Meanwhile, Im said the government would move in earnest on policies to lower the cost of weddings. He said a probe by the Korea Fair Trade Commission last week found that about 47 percent of wedding halls, photography studios, dress shops and makeup businesses did not disclose key pricing information, pointing to a lack of transparency in wedding costs.

To address the problem, Im said the government would push to expand price disclosure and broaden the designation of wedding venues as "good-price businesses." He added that more public wedding facilities would be opened so that newlyweds and their families could feel a tangible reduction in wedding costs, and that the effort would be pursued swiftly.

"The lives of salaried workers are the very essence of people's livelihoods," Im said. "The Salary Defense Task Force will get to work in earnest to continuously identify and implement policies that reduce living costs and increase disposable income."


sang@heraldcorp.com