President Moon: "Bottom 70% Income, 1 Million Won per 4-Person Household... 2nd Supplementary Budget Submitted" (Update)

Second Supplementary Budget Plan to Be Processed by National Assembly Next Month... President Moon Emphasizes "Prompt Payment"
Payment Deferral or Reduction of 4 Major Insurance Premiums and Electricity Bills for Low-Income Groups, Small and Medium Enterprises, Small Business Owners, and Self-Employed... Effective from March

President Moon Jae-in is holding the 3rd Emergency Economic Meeting related to COVID-19 at the Blue House on the 30th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] The government has decided to provide emergency disaster relief funds of 1 million won per household (based on a family of four) to the bottom 70% income group, including the middle class. To this end, it plans to swiftly submit a second supplementary budget bill aiming for parliamentary approval within April. While maintaining the policy of 'selective payment' targeting citizens economically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the scope of payment has been expanded as much as possible.

On the 30th, President Moon Jae-in presided over the '3rd Emergency Economic Meeting' at the Blue House and announced this decision directly, stating, "All citizens have suffered due to COVID-19 and participated together in quarantine efforts," and "All citizens deserve compensation for their suffering and efforts."

President Moon emphasized, "Since rapid payment of the emergency disaster relief fund is of utmost importance, we plan to promptly submit the second supplementary budget bill so that it can be processed by the National Assembly in April, right after the general election," and requested cooperation from the National Assembly, adding, "To reserve fiscal capacity and reach a swift bipartisan agreement, most of the funds will be secured through painful government budget expenditure restructuring."

The number of households corresponding to the bottom 70% income bracket is approximately 14 million. Support is expected to be differentiated according to the number of household members. The total required budget is estimated to be at least 10 trillion won. However, detailed issues such as overlapping benefits with local governments were not mentioned.

The Democratic Party of Korea and the Ministry of Economy and Finance have been engaged in weeks of debate over the name, target recipients, and scale of the emergency disaster relief fund. It is reported that the final consensus was reached during a high-level ruling party-government meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the previous afternoon. President Moon also revealed his concerns, saying, "It was not an easy decision," and "Many meetings and discussions were held."

President Moon stated, "However, the government needs to reserve fiscal capacity to prepare for the endless economic shock and to respond swiftly to employment instability and corporate liquidity crises," and added, "I ask those who are economically more resilient to widely understand and make concessions for those with lower incomes."

He continued, "The government’s decision to bear a significant fiscal burden was made because it felt the need to comfort and support the difficult livelihoods of the people and those who sacrificed their daily activities as the main agents of quarantine and joined in overcoming the crisis," and expressed hope that "(by utilizing the emergency disaster relief funds) the government will cooperate in revitalizing consumption to revive our economy in line with the period when COVID-19 subsides." He added, "I hope this government measure will provide strength and comfort to the people overcoming difficulties."

Alongside this, the government decided on measures to ease burdens such as social insurance premium reductions. Starting next month, for three months on a temporary basis, health insurance and industrial accident insurance premiums will be reduced by up to 50% for low-income groups and small business owners, and payments for national pension and employment insurance premiums will be deferred.

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