Lee Jun-seok, "In the AI era, raising electricity rates is like increasing the cost of bullets" – Strong critique

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the Reform Party, voiced strong criticism regarding the Yoon Seok-yeol government's policy of increasing electricity rates.

At a Supreme Council meeting held in the National Assembly on the 18th, Lee pointed out the government's contradictory policy direction and expressed concerns about weakening industrial competitiveness.

Lee stated, "The government talks about bold investments in AI on one hand while pushing for an increase in electricity rates on the other," highlighting the disharmony in national management.

In particular, he criticized the government's approach, stating that increasing the cost of "bullets" while seeking victory in the AI war is contradictory, using the expression "Electricity is the bullet in the AI war."

Lee Jun-seok expressed concerns about the impact on businesses in major industrial cities like Pohang, Ulsan, and Yeosu.

He emphasized the importance of a stable power supply, stating, "A semiconductor factory can incur losses in the trillions of won from just one second of power outage."

He warned that if the power supply issue is not resolved, rising production costs would ruin price competitiveness and inevitably affect exports.

Criticism of environmental policy and consumer coupon initiatives continued

Lee Jun-seok also pointed out that the current government's environmental policies lack practicality. He criticized the pursuit of wind power in a country with little wind and solar power in a country lacking sunlight, stating, "This is no different than trying to water ski in a desert."

He also expressed concerns about the government's consumer coupon policy, labeling it "coupon-led growth."

Lee noted that the monthly household consumption scale is about 50 trillion won, and mentioned that in just one month, 13 trillion won in consumer coupons had been exhausted, saying, "It's as if citizens increased spending by 25% despite the economy not growing." He raised concerns that such policies would ultimately lead to skyrocketing prices.

He highlighted a critical weakness of coupon-led growth, stating, "Coupons cannot be given every month, but once prices rise, they do not come back down."

He viewed the increase in electricity rates and the consumer coupon policy as problematic in the same context.

"The government is encouraging consumption while simultaneously increasing production costs," he likened this situation to "pressing the accelerator and the brake at the same time."

Finally, Lee Jun-seok urged the government to "promote realistic and sustainable policies instead of mere words about eco-friendliness and ‘coupon-led growth.’"

Image source: Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform Party / News1, reference material for better understanding of the article / gettyimagesbank