President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap)
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday dismissed the argument that his government was prioritizing economic growth at the expense of welfare and efforts to ease inequality, saying South Korea first needs to expand the overall economic pie.

Lee made the remarks on social media after sharing an editorial that criticized the government's 820.9 trillion won ($599 billion) budget proposal for 2027 for placing too much emphasis on growth and called for stronger measures to reduce economic polarization.

"It is unfortunate, but we are now going through a barley hump for growth created by the previous administration, so we first need to focus more on restoring growth," Lee wrote.

"Barley hump," or "borit gogae" in Korean, refers to a period of hardship when grain from the previous harvest runs out before the new barley crop is ready for harvest.

The government on Tuesday approved the 820.9 trillion won budget proposal at a Cabinet meeting, with spending set to rise 12.8 percent from this year. The proposal is scheduled to be submitted to the National Assembly on Thursday for review.

The editorial Lee shared noted that the 2027 plan would raise spending on industry, small businesses and energy by 29.7 percent, while increasing spending on health, welfare and employment by just 9.3 percent.

In the same post, Lee argued that the government's focus on growth did not mean it was turning away from welfare, saying weak or negative growth could widen inequality and eventually lead to cuts in welfare spending.

He added that the government was still working to expand welfare programs, noting that it had also faced criticism for what critics describe as an excessively welfare-oriented, populist budget.

"It has only been a year, so I ask that you give us a little more time," Lee wrote.

Lee took office in June 2025 after winning a snap presidential election triggered by the removal of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Yoon's five-year term ended less than three years after he took office in May 2022, following his short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024.

South Korea's economy grew 1.1 percent in 2025, down from 2.2 percent a year earlier. Growth has since picked up on strong semiconductor exports, with the Bank of Korea last week raising its forecast for this year to 3.3 percent and projecting 2.9 percent growth for 2027.


flylikekite@heraldcorp.com