청 "Disaster Relief Fund, In-Depth Future Discussions with Ruling and Opposition Parties"... Possibility of Expansion from 70% to 100%

Possibility of Reversing the 'Selective Payment to the Bottom 70% Income Group' Decided After Party-Government-Blue House Consultation... Final Decision Only After the General Election

Kang Min-seok, Blue House Spokesperson [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] On the 7th, the Blue House responded to the ruling and opposition parties' calls to expand the emergency disaster relief fund payment target to the entire population or households by stating, "We will have in-depth discussions with both parties during the National Assembly's review process." Regarding the COVID-19 situation, it is interpreted that after consultations among the ruling party, government, and Blue House, President Moon Jae-in reversed the decision to provide up to 1 million won per household (based on a four-person household) only to the bottom 70% income group and left open the possibility of expanding the target.

Kang Min-seok, the Blue House spokesperson, said at a press briefing at the Chuncheon Press Center that day, "President Moon decided to provide the emergency disaster relief fund at the 3rd Emergency Economic Meeting, considering 'urgency, fairness, and national fiscal capacity.'" He added, "The government is currently preparing a supplementary budget bill focusing on expenditure restructuring." He continued, "The government will promptly submit the supplementary budget bill so that the support funds can be paid to the people as soon as possible," and urged, "We also ask the National Assembly to review it quickly."

At the 3rd Emergency Economic Meeting on the 30th of last month, President Moon decided to provide up to 1 million won per household (based on a four-person household) to the bottom 70% income group. This decision was made after nearly a month of consultations among the ruling party, government, and Blue House.

However, following the opposition party's demand for a 500,000 won payment to all citizens, even the ruling party members who participated in the consultations immediately called for expanding the payment target to "up to 1 million won for all households." This has led to criticism of "populism" aimed at the general election, which is just over a week away.

In this situation, the Blue House has also left open the possibility of changing the funding and payment target expansion during the future review process. A key Blue House official emphasized the fundamental position, saying, "The government is preparing the supplementary budget bill based on the existing decision and will submit it to the National Assembly soon," adding, "It is the order of things for the National Assembly to review this bill." However, rather than pushing forward with the existing decision, the official did not clearly deny the possibility of changing the payment target by prioritizing "National Assembly discussions."

However, regarding Lee In-young, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stating that he would propose the president's exclusive authority to invoke the "emergency financial command," the Blue House responded indirectly with a procedural answer, saying, "Once the supplementary budget bill is submitted, the National Assembly must review it," showing a negative stance.

The second supplementary budget bill to secure funding for the emergency disaster relief fund is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly as early as this week. The review and processing of the supplementary budget bill will then be postponed until after the general election. This means that the final decision on funding and payment targets will ultimately be made "after the general election." Depending on the outcome, leaving room for "100% payment" could be criticized as an attempt to appeal to voters ahead of the election.

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