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People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk, floor leader Song Eon-seok, lawmakers and party officials chant slogans during a press conference in front of the Ministry of Justice in Gwacheon on November 18, calling for the resignation of Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho over alleged pressure to drop the Daejang-dong appeal. / Yonhap News

The People Power Party (PPP) on November 18 sharply criticized the inclusion of 11 billion won in next year’s budget to support facility improvements for Korea’s two major labor federations, calling it a “quid-pro-quo budget” rewarding political allies of the ruling party.

In a statement, PPP spokesperson Lee Chung-hyung said the government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea allocated cash-type subsidies to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) for office deposit assistance and renovation of aging facilities. He denounced the move as “a preferential payout to organizations friendly to the administration.”

Lee argued that it was unreasonable for the KCTU—“a private organization with annual revenues exceeding 400 billion won”—to receive taxpayer money even for security deposits. He said the subsidies amounted to pouring “public funds into organizations considered the biggest contributors to the Democratic Party during the last presidential and general elections.”

He also criticized Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon, formerly a KCTU chairman, for describing the measure as “assigning social responsibility.” Lee countered that “the minister should look beyond labor unions and confront the bleak employment reality facing young people.”

He added, “The government neglects funding for young people who cannot even enter the labor market, while trying to cover union office deposits with taxpayer money—this is not the role of the state.” Calling the current situation “a kingdom of privileged unions,” Lee said urgent attention should instead go to job-seeking youth and struggling households.

Lee urged the administration to scrap what he called an “unfair, back-channel budget” that hands tens of billions of won to groups aligned with the ruling camp. “The government should think of young people who still cannot find work and ordinary citizens suffering from unemployment,” he said.