Lee Jae-myung Repeatedly Proposes 'Disaster Basic Income'... President Moon Says "Support in Any Form" (Comprehensive)

President Moon Jae-in is encouraging staff at the Seoul Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters situation room set up at Seoul City Hall on the afternoon of the 16th in preparation for COVID-19. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] President Moon Jae-in said regarding the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) situation, "Small-scale cluster infections are continuing, so we cannot let our guard down even a little," adding, "From now on, it is even more important."

At 2 p.m. that day, President Moon held the 'COVID-19 Metropolitan Area Quarantine Countermeasures Meeting' at the 8th floor conference room of Seoul City Hall and emphasized, "It is a very important time for the success of quarantine in the metropolitan area, where half of our population lives." He continued, "There remains a concern that if a larger-scale cluster infection occurs in the metropolitan area or if community transmission spreads rapidly, all efforts and achievements made so far for quarantine may return to square one," repeatedly warning.

President Moon said, "Due to the rapid deterioration of the overseas situation, the tension over imported cases has also increased significantly," and added, "Whether we can continue the calming trend and firmly establish stability depends on the success of quarantine in the metropolitan area, and it is no exaggeration to say so."

However, he positively evaluated the recent decrease in additional confirmed cases. President Moon said, "The number of new confirmed cases has significantly decreased nationwide, including in Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, which accounted for a large proportion," and "On the other hand, the number of recovered patients has increased, reducing the number of patients receiving isolation treatment." He added, "Unless there are unexpected situations, we expect this pace to accelerate," and "Accordingly, confidence that 'we can overcome COVID-19' is growing, and the international community's evaluation and interest in our quarantine system are increasing."

The meeting was attended by key ministry heads including Minister of the Interior and Safety Jin Young, Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo, as well as metropolitan area governors such as Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun, and Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung.

President Moon said, "Since the metropolitan area is practically a single living zone, joint quarantine through cooperation among local governments is very important," and urged, "Each local government should strengthen quarantine measures for multi-use crowded facilities and high-risk workplaces, which are vulnerable factors for infection spread, while establishing a system to share information and cooperate as one living zone." He added, "Please cooperate closely in sharing essential quarantine information including confirmed case data and movement routes, metropolitan transportation network quarantine systems, and hospital bed utilization."

President Moon said, "The government will also support local governments' efforts to prevent the spread of infectious diseases," and "We will do our best to thoroughly block the inflow of COVID-19 spreading worldwide into the country so that difficulties in the local community quarantine network do not arise."

During the meeting, local governments also made proposals and held discussions. According to Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok, Mayor Park proposed the payment of 'Emergency Disaster Living Expenses' (estimated at 4.8 trillion won) for households below the median income who are not protected by the National Basic Livelihood Security System or unemployment benefits, and Governor Lee proposed a 'Disaster Basic Income' that provides a certain amount to all citizens.

In response, President Moon said, "The supplementary budget also contains a considerable amount of budget to support vulnerable groups," but added, "Even so, there may be blind spots. Support for vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19 in any form is important."

Spokesperson Kang said, "President Moon did not make a conclusion today on various types of support measures including the concept of basic income," and "Instead, he left it as a future discussion topic between the government and local governments and kept the possibility of discussion open." He emphasized the efforts of local governments by citing examples from Jeonju and Hwaseong cities.

Spokesperson Kang explained, "Jeonju City is providing disaster basic income of 527,000 won each to 50,000 vulnerable people to overcome COVID-19, and Hwaseong City is providing emergency living expenses averaging 2 million won to about 33,000 small business owners whose sales have decreased by more than 10% compared to the previous year," adding, "There was also discussion about utilizing local governments' 'Disaster Management Funds'."

The Disaster Management Fund is a legally mandated fund that local governments accumulate annually to cover costs related to disaster prevention and recovery. Spokesperson Kang said that combined, Seoul and Gyeonggi Province have about 1.3 trillion won in such funds.

Meanwhile, President Moon visited the Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters located on the 3rd floor of Seoul City Hall to meet and encourage the staff working hard to respond to COVID-19.

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