President Moon: "Trust in quarantine must be followed by trust in economic policy" (Comprehensive)

Request to Strengthen Employment Industry to Increase Local Government Jobs... Urging Identification of Blind Spots in Vulnerable Support and Livelihood Measures

[Asia Economy Reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Son Seon-hee] President Moon Jae-in instructed at the 3rd Emergency Economic Meeting on the 30th, "The government must swiftly prepare the 2nd supplementary budget through rigorous expenditure restructuring to ensure the emergency disaster relief fund decided at today's 3rd meeting is promptly executed."

Chief Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok explained, "President Moon has already emphasized in all his remarks that swift execution is of utmost importance," adding, "The government will do its best to ensure that if the supplementary budget passes in the National Assembly immediately after the April general election, the emergency relief fund will be actually distributed to the people around mid-May. Cooperation from the National Assembly is crucial in this regard."

In particular, Spokesperson Kang emphasized, "(President Moon) urged the economic team that this should follow the trust built in COVID-19 quarantine measures and lead to trust in economic policies."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon said, "The core to overcoming the economic crisis is employment and jobs," and added, "Besides the 1 million won emergency disaster relief fund, I hope local governments strengthen employment industries to independently increase jobs." He also mentioned support for blind spots.

Spokesperson Kang conveyed, "After receiving reports on livelihood support measures for vulnerable groups, there are new forms of workers such as platform workers in addition to special employment workers. Since they should be included in the new policy targets, the Ministry of Labor was asked to make every effort to identify additional blind spots."

Meanwhile, a senior Blue House official explained, "Since time is a critical issue, if the supplementary budget passes through a one-point session of the National Assembly immediately after the April general election, we are aiming to do our best to ensure the emergency disaster relief fund is actually paid out by May."

The senior Blue House official added, "The idea of universal basic income for all citizens was not a major consideration at the final stage," and said, "Considering the available capacity and other factors, it did not seem to be a strong option from the beginning."

Additionally, regarding the expenditure restructuring mentioned by President Moon, the senior Blue House official said, "Since it is restructuring of expenditure items, specific mentions such as defense spending were not made," and added, "This is an issue the fiscal authorities will need to address going forward."

Regarding disagreements among the ruling party, government, and Blue House over the emergency disaster relief fund payment, the senior Blue House official emphasized, "What is clear is that the Emergency Economic Meeting is led by the president," and stated, "Today's emergency disaster relief fund decision was made by the president."

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