The Complex Intentions of Ruling and Opposition Parties Surrounding the Emergency Disaster Relief Fund

Lee In-young, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kang Ki-jung, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House, are attending the COVID-19 response party-government-Blue House meeting held at the National Assembly on the 25th, and are conversing during the meeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Kang Nahum and Won Dara] Emergency disaster relief funds due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) have emerged as a core issue in the April 15 general election. The ruling party, the Democratic Party of Korea, faced criticism for conducting a 'money election' as it hinted at a third supplementary budget despite not having even established criteria for the relief funds. Meanwhile, the United Future Party launched an offensive against the ruling party, calling it 'vote-buying,' yet also proposed a budget support plan worth 240 trillion won, causing confusion in message management.

According to political circles including the Democratic Party on the 1st, the government is preparing a second supplementary budget (supplementary budget) of 7.1 trillion won to cover 9.1 trillion won for emergency disaster relief funds.

However, the general sentiment within the ruling party is that the actual size of the second supplementary budget submitted to the National Assembly should be larger than this. The additional budget for industries affected by further damage, which was excluded from the first supplementary budget (11.7 trillion won), should be compensated in the second supplementary budget. Considering that there was an attempt to increase the budget by 6 trillion won during the first supplementary budget committee review, there is also a forecast that the size of the second supplementary budget will exceed 10 trillion won.

On the previous day, Lee In-young, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, also indicated the possibility of additional measures through a third supplementary budget, saying about the emergency disaster relief fund payment plan, "I do not think this is a completed measure. We will not neglect preparations to establish urgent measures again at any time." However, by igniting the possibility of a third supplementary budget without detailed implementation plans, the opposition party criticizes the ruling party for using finances for election purposes.

In this regard, a Democratic Party official said, "There is a burden regarding the third supplementary budget. However, what is clear is that the impact of COVID-19 will last a long time," adding, "Wouldn't it be best to significantly increase the size of the second supplementary budget?"

Ultimately, from the ruling party's perspective, the only way to reduce the political burden of the third supplementary budget is to greatly increase the budget in the second supplementary budget. However, there is also a forecast that a clash between the party and the government is inevitable as the government is likely to stick to the previously announced plan of 7.1 trillion won, citing fiscal soundness issues such as deficit bond issuance.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the United Future Party appears to be causing confusion in message management related to the emergency disaster relief funds. Kim Jong-in, the general election committee chairman of the United Future Party, said in his policy speech that "The whole country is struggling and all citizens are suffering, but can the government recklessly spend just because there is a fixed budget?" and insisted that "The government should take the lead in saving." He added, "The government and the National Assembly should quickly secure about 100 trillion won by reallocating about 20% of this year's budget first," and said, "It is appropriate to do this first, and if the situation prolongs into the second half of the year, then supplementary budgets 2 and 3 can be prepared through bond issuance."

Park Hyung-joon, co-chairman of the United Future Party's election committee, also criticized the emergency disaster relief funds the day before, saying, "The emergency disaster relief fund is clearly a vote-buying desire aimed at the general election," and called it "a one-time proposal that only wastes the national budget."

The United Future Party has proposed a package support plan to secure a total of 240 trillion won through government finances, financial support, and public bond issuance. The core idea is to inject 100 trillion won for emergency corporate financial support and to reallocate 20% of the government budget (about 100 trillion won) to compensate for the income of vulnerable groups. Since this budget support scale is much larger than the government's plan, there are criticisms that the 'vote-buying' accusation against the ruling party lacks persuasiveness.

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