The public uproar over this year’s tax filing escalated on Wednesday, adding to the list of political troubles besetting President Park Geun-hye, whose approval ratings have fallen to new lows in recent weeks.

Preliminary tax calculations by media outlets, the Korea Taxpayers’ Association, individual taxpayers and the government showed that some low- and middle-income families could pay more taxes this year than the last, due to tax code revisions made by the government in 2013.

Although the tax filing results will not be finalized until March, the calculations sparked a public backlash against Park and her governing Saenuri Party, as angry taxpayers prepared to pay more. The latest uproar darkens the political future of Park and the Saenuri Party, analysts said.

To address the discontent, the government on Wednesday held an emergency meeting with senior members of the Saenuri Party. They agreed to revise related tax laws by April in the National Assembly. The ruling party said it would discuss with the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy to push for legislation to retroactively apply the changes.

The revisions will aim to increase tax deductions to households with two or more children, in a country whose birth rates have dipped to 1.19 as of 2013, according to Statistics Korea, a government-run body.

The upcoming changes to tax codes will also increase deductions on pension-related taxes and taxes on unmarried, single-person households, the party said after the meeting.

The move came a day after the presidential office and finance minister Choi Kyung-hwan tried to defuse fears about the tax increase. At a hastily arranged news conference on Tuesday, Choi apologized for causing concern but said that the new tax scheme is aimed at improving distribution of wealth. President Park also ordered officials to give proper explanations about the tax issue.

The government-party agreement on Wednesday appears to have been reached amid fears that the tax scheme could further aggravate public sentiment.

The recent tax increases follow an unpopular tax hike on tobacco products this year. The Korea Taxpayers’ Association, an activist group concerned with public finance, is currently leading a national signature campaign against the tax increases levied on this year’s settlements.

“It is safe to say that this is the beginning of the end for the Park administration,” Yonsei University professor of Korean politics Yang Seung-ham said. “Park’s falling approval ratings appear to be difficult to stem. I won’t be surprised if the governing party loses in the 2016 general elections.”

Chung-Ang University Korean politics professor Choi Young-jin agreed.

“Everyone (in the Saenuri Party) knows this means trouble,” he said.

“Taxpayers in their 40s and 50s will be affected the most. They might vote the other way in 2016, meaning that this is an opportunity for the opposition parties.”

Park’s approval ratings had already fallen to the 30 percent range, apparently due to the public’s frustration at her refusal to fire her top aides linked to the so-called Chung Yoon-hoi scandal, in which the aides were accused of having meddled in state affairs.

Park’s approval rating was 39.4 percent in a recent survey by Real Meter, a local pollster. The survey of 2,500 adults nationwide from Jan. 12 to 16 had a 2 percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level.

Gallup Korea measured Park’s approval ratings at 40 percent in the last quarter of 2014. The polling company takes weekly tallies of the president’s ratings, usually surveying about 1,000 adults, with a 3 percent margin of error and 95 percent confidence level.

By Jeong Hunny ()


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com