United Future Party "TK Supplementary Budget 620 Billion Won"... Hong Nam-ki "Support Up to 1.9 Trillion Won"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] At the plenary session of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts held on the 11th, the issue of 'TK support neglect theory' was strongly raised, mainly by members of the United Future Party representing Daegu and Gyeongbuk (TK) constituencies.

They requested an increase, arguing that the amount allocated to TK accounts for only 5.3% of the total supplementary budget (supplementary budget). Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, emphasized that the support is designed to be concentrated up to a maximum of 1.9 trillion won.

United Future Party lawmaker Yoon Jae-ok criticized, "The TK support budget is 620 billion won, which is only about 5% of the total supplementary budget. Moreover, more than 500 billion won of that is indirect support, not direct support."

Lawmaker Jung Tae-ok also said, "TK has had 70% of its economic activities suspended due to the COVID-19 damage, but the separate budget is minimal," and requested, "Direct support such as personnel expenses for medical staff and volunteers, medical supplies, cleaning and disinfection costs, and all treatment costs for confirmed patients must be significantly strengthened." Lawmaker Joo Ho-young also demanded, "Please adjust the supplementary budget fully considering the situation in TK."

In response, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "We have separately accounted for 620.9 billion won for the TK region," and emphasized, "After reviewing the projects included in the supplementary budget, including guarantee support, it is designed to concentrate support from 1.5 trillion won up to a maximum of 1.9 trillion won."

Regarding criticism about the large amount of loans, he stated, "There are inevitably many restrictions on direct support anyway." Instead, he added, "212 billion won was reflected as a marketing budget to revitalize traditional markets nationwide in 530 markets, and all 281 markets in the TK region were included." This indicates efforts to ensure that a lot of support goes to the TK region.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong added, "After designating the TK region as a special infectious disease management area, we are focusing support on this area using the contingency fund," and said, "If necessary, we will use the contingency fund to provide maximum support."

On this day, United Future Party lawmakers harshly criticized the government, saying that the government's inadequate response to COVID-19 worsened the situation.

United Future Party lawmaker Sung Il-jong pointed out that countries that banned entry from China early, those that banned it late, and those that completely kept their borders open showed noticeable differences in the scale of confirmed cases, and pressed Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, asking, "Do you think the Korean government responded well?"

He criticized, "Although experts continuously warned about community infections since the 16th of last month, the government only requested restraint on mass gatherings on the 26th. Even though signs had already appeared, they should have advised against gatherings, but they even allowed the Shincheonji worship service on the 23rd."

In response, Prime Minister Chung said, "It is still too early to judge whether the response was good or not. An accurate evaluation should be made comprehensively afterward by experts," and emphasized, "Please also note that the international community is giving a relatively positive evaluation of Korea's current response."

He continued, "Blocking infectious diseases is most important, but national governance must be viewed comprehensively from the perspective of national interest," and regarding the mask shortage, explained, "Fundamentally, it happened due to an imbalance between supply and demand. Until the Shincheonji incident, the mask issue was not that serious, but now, even though a considerable amount is being produced by international standards, it absolutely does not meet the demand."

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