SEOUL: South Korea plans to establish a future fund using extra tax revenue generated by a semiconductor boom to invest in growth engines, support for younger generations and efforts to address widening inequality, a top government official said on Sunday (Jul 5).
Speaking at a meeting between the government and the ruling Democratic Party, Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said President Lee Jae Myung’s administration would use the „Future Response Fund“ to help finance major national investment projects and strengthen the country’s long-term competitiveness.
„At this critical juncture that will determine South Korea’s future, we must not squander additional tax revenue generated by the semiconductor boom and other factors,“ Kang said.
He said the fund would support the government’s three „mega projects“, create new growth drivers, respond to what he described as „K-shaped“ economic polarisation and provide housing, startup and employment support for people in their 20s and 30s.
He called the proposed fund „a cornerstone“ for realising Lee’s goal of making South Korea globally „irreplaceable“ and urged close cooperation between the government and the ruling party to move quickly.