Hong Nam-ki "Disaster Relief Fund, Possibility of Policy Mismatch by Distributing Money Without Usable Destinations"

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance. (File photo)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated on the 24th, "Some argue that disaster relief payments might become a mismatched policy where money is distributed without actual places to spend it." This reflects his negative stance once again on the disaster basic income support for the entire population.

Late that night, Hong emphasized on his Facebook, "For a policy to be effective, timing and speed are important, but it is also crucial to consider in what order and under what circumstances the policies will be implemented." He added, "Even if urgent, I believe that strategically preparing and implementing response measures in sequence?such as emergency quarantine and mask measures, fiscal, tax, and financial packages, regional economic recovery support, and currency swaps and financial stability?is the way to minimize the economic damage caused by COVID-19."

Previously, Hong had expressed a negative stance on government-level disaster basic income support. On the 10th, during the National Assembly Planning and Finance Committee plenary session, in response to Justice Party lawmaker Shim Sang-jung's question that "international economic organizations recommend direct cash support, and governors within the ruling party are also proposing disaster basic income payments," he replied, "We (the government) have also reviewed it, but although there are several advantages, there are also many issues, so I think it is difficult to easily agree."

However, after local governments began deciding to provide disaster basic income starting with Ulsan Ulju-gun, Hong Nam-ki expressed a clearer opposition to this.

Meanwhile, on the 23rd, Ulju-gun decided to provide disaster basic income of 100,000 won per person to all residents. The target population is about 222,000 people in Ulju-gun as of the end of February, excluding foreigners. They are considering a one-time payment via local bank check cards or cash. The next day, Busan Gijang-gun and Gyeonggi-do also announced plans to provide disaster basic income of 100,000 won per person to all residents.

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