—Park Hyeonseop! Park Hyeonseop! Let’s change the world, Park Hyeonseop!
The day of the statutory debate.
In front of the broadcasting station, supporters who had gathered since early morning began putting on a show of strength. After the Gangwon convention, all the other candidates had withdrawn, leaving only a two-way race, but the number of supporters had grown even larger than back then.
—There he is! There’s Minister Park!
But the psychological battle already looked close to lost.
Park Hyeonseop’s supporters seemed several times more numerous than Lee Chanho’s. Perhaps a 14-percent gap really was that hopelessly vast.
—The minister’s car is stopping!
—The minister is getting out!
—The minister is looking at us!
—Oh, Minister. Oh, Mr. President!
Damn it, is it already too late...? In politics, once a frontrunner is decided, they always start idolizing him with lines like “How graceful he is” and “How handsome he is,” and it seemed Minister Park’s idolization had already begun.
He got out of the car, shook hands with his supporters, and said,
“It’s cold out. Why did you all come?”
—How could we stay home? Your heart must be even colder, Minister!
—That’s right, Minister! Don’t be hurt by the slander from those reactionary fossils and the party mainstream that’s colluding with them. We’re behind you!
“Thank you. I’ll repay you with today’s statutory debate.”
As he entered the main building, reporters pushed through the crowd and thrust their microphones at him.
—Candidate Park! Please say a few words!
—Last night, you posted on social media that you oppose abolishing the capital gains tax. Was that a criticism of Candidate Lee Chanho’s pledge?
—You also emphasized the “true progressive spirit.” Then was this administration not truly progressive?
Park Hyeonseop answered with a relaxed smile.
“Politics must not turn away from the groans of the weak. I hope we can quickly end the factional fighting within the party and take the path toward the future.”
Where there is light, there is also shadow.
As Minister Park left behind a fine quote and made his exit, a rather shabby-looking car appeared behind him.
—You rotten watermelon bastard!
—Lee Chanho, are you even human? Was cursing the Participatory Government twenty years ago not enough, and now you’re going to split the party outright?
—We don’t need your declaration of support anymore! Get out of the party! Withdraw! Withdraw!
Lee Chanho, who got out of the car, also greeted his supporters with a smile, but he hurried into the main building without saying much else.
For now, he had lost the battle of organizational power.
When he entered the waiting room, I watched for an opening and opened the door.
“Prime Minister.”
“Oh, Sejun. You’re here?”
Alone in the waiting room, he had even put off his makeup and was reading through papers. They contained the main agendas expected to come up in today’s statutory debate, along with anticipated attacks and answers.
“You must be nervous.”
“Nervous? I’ve been on stages like this more than once or twice.”
“Is there anything I can help you with? I could be your debate partner...”
“It’s fine. I’ve already done it countless times with our debate team, so now my mouth just hurts. Let me be alone for a bit. Thanks to you, I have a lot more to memorize.”
“Yes... understood.”
I had persistently persuaded Lee Chanho as to why the capital gains tax on foreign stocks needed to be eased, and I had submitted dozens of pages’ worth of reports on the expected attacks and responses regarding it.
And now it was time to trust him, with his sharp mind and silver tongue.
As I was about to say goodbye and leave, Lee Chanho called me.
“Oh, Team Leader Lee.”
“Yes, Prime Minister.”
“That abolition of the capital gains tax on foreign stocks. The president’s reaction was better than I expected. He said even if I lose at the convention, he’ll try to push it forward.”
His words sounded lonely to me. Had he already let go to some extent? Did he himself think he couldn’t win this convention?
“Prime Minister. You will win. I believe it!”
“Yes, I should. Haha. Anyway, thank you for the good policy idea. I’ll make sure to repay your expectations.”
Closing the door behind me, I clenched my fist tightly.
Please, single digits... no more, no less, just 5%. If we can narrow the gap that far, I’m ready to throw in everything I have.
*
“Good evening, citizens. I am Kim Seongchun, moderator of this Minguk Party convention statutory debate.”
With the moderator’s greeting, the gladiatorial stage between the two sides opened.
The two candidates exchanged handshakes with cold faces, refusing even the courtesy of a smile, as if to show that the conflict between the two factions had already reached the level of a party split.
“We will begin with opening statements. Candidate Lee, you first?”
Lee Chanho, taking the first strike, emphasized the achievements of the current administration.
De-Seoulization, real estate stabilization, the Commercial Act amendment, and KOSPI 6,000 were the current administration’s greatest achievements.
“...But it is still not enough. The real estate market has still not stabilized, and the polarization of the stock market remains another task. Unfortunately, unlike the highly motivated Blue House, the National Assembly’s legislative pace has been far too sluggish. If I become party leader, I will create a working National Assembly and working lawmakers.”
When Lee Chanho’s speech ended, Park Hyeonseop began his opening statement as if he found it laughable.
“Listening to you, something about your words sounds rather strange. Haha... The things done well are thanks to the Blue House, and the things not done well are the National Assembly’s fault? Candidate Lee, do you not find this vertical relationship between party and government strange?”
Originally, an opening statement was supposed to begin with general principles... but there was no time.
Park Hyeonseop went straight for the blade.
“The Commercial Act amendment is not an achievement of the Blue House. It is an achievement of the party, one that everyone in our Minguk Party longed for. Likewise, the era of KOSPI 6,000 and the stabilization of Seoul real estate were all the result of the joint efforts of the Seoul mayor, our party members, and the National Assembly. They cannot be called the achievement of any single person.”
Park Hyeonseop sharpened his gaze.
“On the contrary, I would like to ask here today. The era of KOSPI 6,000, achieved together with party members, lawmakers, and the people! Why is Candidate Lee Chanho trying to turn this hard-won task back into the era of 3,000?”
It was a remark aimed at the capital gains tax on foreign stocks.
“In truth, I know the reason. It is undoubtedly a matter of political engineering. A major election is approaching, so you have begun ‘vote-pulism,’ have you not? But citizens, since when did tax cuts become the agenda of a progressive party? If we ease or abolish the capital gains tax on foreign stocks, the outflow of domestic capital is as clear as day. Are we going to return to KOSPI 3,000?!”
The moderator let out a quiet sigh.
He had expected it to be fierce, but not to this extent. As it happened, the next segment was Park Hyeonseop’s initiative debate, so there was no need to announce it separately.
“Please answer, Candidate Lee.”
“I would like you to stop the false agitation and exaggeration, Candidate Park.”
“False agitation?”
“The reason the domestic stock market is so heated right now is not solely because of the government’s stimulus policies. Semiconductors that big tech companies are lining up to buy, half-price self-propelled howitzers, excellent shipbuilding capabilities... It is because our companies are standing out across every field of business. Easing the capital gains tax on foreign stocks will not instantly send it back to 3,000.”
It was a reasonable point.
The operating profits of our semiconductor HBM are being revised upward every week, by trillions of won. Some prestigious rating agencies even forecast that Hoam Electronics would rank first in the world in operating profit next year. First in operating profit, beating giants like Envidi, Gogle, and MS... If that was true, our semiconductor companies were still dirt cheap.
“So you are saying it is fine to suppress companies? When such good things are happening, the government should be thinking of raising the KOSPI to 9,000, to 10,000. You must not throw cold water on it just because things look livable now!”
“I would call it normalization, not cold water. The capital gains tax is a bad law.”
“A bad law?”
“Yes. The capital gains tax on foreign stocks is a law that has been pursued since the 1998 IMF crisis, a desperate measure for stabilizing the foreign exchange market. At the time, it was unavoidable.”
“Do not muddy the essence. Why does it matter whether it was created during the IMF crisis or whatever? If it is a good law, we can use it even if it was made in the Joseon Dynasty.”
“The problem is that it is only good for companies and has nothing good for investors.”
Park Hyeonseop struck the desk.
“That is absurd sophistry! If domestic capital flows out, domestic companies will suffer from funding shortages in difficult times!”
“That is the companies’ perspective! For individual investors, that investment money is retirement money and hospital bills! Then when the people suffer from a lack of funds in old age, will companies take responsibility for them?”
“They need investment money to develop R&D and so on, and raise their competitiveness even further!”
“Why should that be done by wringing out the retirement funds of individual investors? Finance is also a product. Whether Korea earns money by exporting semiconductors or by investing, the money earned is the same money. So why do we place no restrictions on corporate exports, but impose a 22% tax on financial income?”
Watching the broadcast, I clenched my fist.
All those countless mock debates had been worth it. Lee Chanho faced Park Hyeonseop with momentum that did not fall behind at all. No, he was far more dominant than expected.
At first, more public opinion had opposed Lee Chanho’s easing of the capital gains tax, but as the debate continued, the opinions in the WebTube comments section were drawing closer to fifty-fifty.
“How is this the same as semiconductors?”
“What is different? Recently, due to a shortage in semiconductor supply, prices of all essential appliances, from computers to smartphones, have been rising one after another. Then, for price stability, should we also apply domestic semiconductor quotas and restrict exports?”
“Then what about the competitiveness of domestic companies!”
“If you are so worried about the competitiveness of companies, then let us ban Apple phones too. Galaxy is already struggling with market share, so how can we use American phones? Not only that, let us block Gogle and Netple as China does. Because of them, the market share of domestic search engines has fallen, and domestic theaters are on the verge of annihilation. Is it right to block them for the competitiveness of domestic companies?”
In truth, when you thought about it, it was an extremely contradictory economic logic.
The money companies earned by selling self-propelled howitzers and semiconductors was a triumph of exports, but the money individuals earned through financial investment was an outflow of national wealth...
It must have been the excessive greed of common people after all.
Apparently, wanting to die without worrying about hospital bills at the end of life, and investing in installments in American companies that simply could not fail, was treason, betrayal, and rebellion.
“One moment, yes. One moment... While you were speaking, Candidate Park Hyeonseop’s initiative time has ended. Candidate Lee Chanho, please proceed with your initiative debate.”
Now that he had the initiative, Lee Chanho picked up a panel.
“I will not speak at length. We should encourage domestic investment for the competitiveness of domestic companies? Fine. Yes, that is a good thing. But.”
The panel he held up was a comparison chart of the foreign investment assets of the National Pension Service and individual investors.
“Then let us talk about something uncomfortable. The pension funds’ foreign investment assets, 500 trillion won. The Seohak Ants’ investment assets, 250 trillion won. Now then, who is the criminal leaking national wealth?”
Lee Chanho shouted.
“This violates the nation’s principles of taxation and tax equity. Why do pension funds not pay a 22% capital gains tax?”