Lee Hyung-il, nominee for South Korea’s deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance, endorsed the Bank of Korea’s tightening stance while calling for targeted fiscal support for vulnerable borrowers and long-term growth. At his September 15 National Assembly confirmation hearing, Lee said semiconductor-driven current account surpluses were bringing substantial liquidity inflows that required preemptive management, and he defended next year’s approximately 162 trillion Korean won Future Response Fund against opposition claims that it would be a government personal slush fund. Lee said the fund’s operational plan would undergo National Assembly deliberations and would address excess-tax-revenue management, growth investment and fiscal stabilization during deficits. He said the government plans to repay 12.5 trillion won in national debt but cautioned that excessive repayment could affect the government bond market. Lee also outlined a two-track approach to liquidity and household debt, combining broad risk management with selective credit easing for young adults and newlyweds. He said next year’s managed fiscal deficit ratio was 0.1%, also described in the hearing as a -0.1% managed fiscal balance, while projected national debt-to-GDP had improved to 49% in five years from an earlier estimate of 59%.