Ruling party mulls lowering cigarette price increase

Faced with strong criticisms against the government`s plan to increase taxes, the ruling Saenuri Party and the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae are on alert over the public sentiment. The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) launched an offensive on the government, calling for the withdrawal of tax cuts for the people in the high-income brackets.

Regarding the government announcement to nearly double cigarette prices, Hong Il-pyo, vice chairman of the ruling party`s policy committee, told a radio talk show Friday that the National Assembly will decide on a proper level of a price increase. Asked if it is likely to lower the increase from 2,000 won (2 U.S. dollars) to 1,500 won, he said, "It is possible."

However, the main opposition party stepped up its offensive on the government, calling the planned price hike an "increased tax on low-income people." The party`s floor leader Park Young-sun told a meeting of its lawmakers that the state coffers should be replenished "not by taking more taxes from the pockets of low-income people but by withdrawing tax cuts on the wealthy."

Cheong Wa Dae is closely watching the growing public resentment against a series of measures to increase cigarette prices and resident taxes in addition to a large-scale overhaul of the system for levying premiums for national health insurance. As the proposed reform of the pension system for government employees can no longer be postponed, the presidential office is concerned that it might face an emergency situation where the general public and government employees resist the plans at the same time.