Ruling Party, Government, and Blue House "Maximizing COVID-19 Lockdown Policies... Also Deciding to Reduce Mask Export Volume"

On the 25th, at the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, a high-level government-party-civil society meeting related to COVID-19 was held, attended by Kang Ki-jung, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs to the Blue House (third from the left), Kim Sang-jo, Chief of Policy Office, Lee Nak-yeon, Chairman of the COVID-19 Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Committee, Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party, Lee In-young, floor leader, Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy, and Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The Democratic Party of Korea, the government, and the Blue House have decided to elevate their lockdown policies to a higher level to prevent the community spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Hong Ik-pyo, the chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, held a briefing immediately after the party-government-Blue House meeting held at the central party office in Yeouido and stated, "We have decided to actively block the spread of COVID-19 beyond the usual containment measures."

He said, "The government side is considering certain administrative actions regarding movement and related aspects," adding, "Specific details will be announced by the government after being approved at the Cabinet meeting today (the 25th)."

However, Chief Spokesperson Hong emphasized, "Implementing the 'maximum lockdown policy' means tightening the quarantine network to block the spread and community transmission of COVID-19," and clarified, "It does not mean completely sealing off access to regions."

The party, government, and Blue House also agreed to secure the maximum supply volume and establish stable supply measures to promptly resolve the ongoing mask supply instability issue. Specifically, they decided to set the public mandatory supply at 50% of daily production. Additionally, current export volumes will be limited to 10%. The public mandatory supply will be distributed stably to the public through Nonghyup, post offices, and local governments rather than commercial distribution channels. Furthermore, free supply to low-income vulnerable groups and medical personnel in Daegu and the Gyeongbuk region will be expanded.

They also decided to consider the President’s emergency financial order authority. Chief Spokesperson Hong said, "We have decided to prepare a supplementary budget as soon as possible, and if it is difficult for the National Assembly to operate normally, we will consider an emergency financial order." He added, "We will strengthen the active role of finance through special support for Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions suffering from the infectious disease, small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed individuals, as well as active support for export companies."

He continued, "To help small and medium-sized self-employed businesses currently suffering from rent burdens, we have decided to include tax benefits for landlords and self-employed individuals related to rent reductions in this supplementary budget."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.