Na Kyung-won, ‘opposes President Yoon’ with Hungary’s first bill to solve low birth rate… “Government measures are more radical”

On the 25th, People Power Party President-elect Na Kyung-won announced that she would push for a Hungarian-style solution to low birth rates, in which the government lends housing funds and provides interest reduction and principal forgiveness depending on the number of children born, as the first bill in the 22nd National Assembly. President-elect Na previously clashed with President Yoon Seok-yeol over the Hungarian-style solution to low birth rates.

In a keynote speech at the ‘Korean Economy Caught in Demographic Cliff Shock’ forum hosted by Seoul Wire at a hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on this day, President-elect Na said, “One of the main reasons (the current young generation) is not having children or getting married is housing stability,” he said. “When I go to the National Assembly, I will propose a Hungarian-style low birth rate measure as the first bill related to low birth rate,” he said. President-elect Na said, “I don’t give birth to children just because I get paid. However, the low birth rate cannot be overcome without money.”

President-elect Na also proposed that Hungarian-style measures should be introduced in January last year, when he was vice-chairman of the Presidential Committee on Low Birth Rate and Aging Society. At the time, the President-elect’s office harshly criticized President-elect Na, saying that it contrasted with the government’s policy stance, and President-elect Na was kicked out from his position as vice chairman. There were many interpretations that President Yoon was expressing his displeasure toward President-elect Na, who was trying to become the representative of the People Power Party at the time. President-elect Na is expected to run for party leadership again at the People Power Party convention to be held in June at the earliest.

President-elect Na said, “In our reality, 40 million won like Hungary is not enough,” and “Considering the size of GDP (gross domestic product), we are suggesting a loan of about 200 million won at an interest rate of 1% for 20 years.” President-elect Na said, “When I was Vice Chairman, I presented a Hungarian-style solution, so the reason I criticized it for being different from the government policy was because it costs a lot of money.” “We are paying 4%,” he said. He said that the budget estimate would cost 12 to 16 trillion won per year, and emphasized, “Considering the size of our government’s budget 20 years from now, we can fully afford it.”

President-elect Na also said, “Looking at the policies being poured out by the current government, they seem to be more radical than I thought.” President-elect Na also proposed starting discussions on introducing the French-style registered cohabitation marriage system.