Government Struggles Amid Ruling and Opposition Parties' Populist Pledge Overload

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, is entering the meeting room to attend the "Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting for COVID-19 Response" held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 31st. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Ahead of the April 15 general election, each political party is presenting populist pledges. However, since specific funding plans have not been disclosed, there are criticisms that the likelihood of implementation is very low. This leaves the budget authorities, who must consider fiscal soundness, in a difficult position.

On the 11th, a government official said, "The number of beneficiaries and required funds need to be thoroughly reviewed, but since new policies are being requested without this, many cases lack practicality." Another government official stated, "When policies are proposed in the National Assembly, even if they are not implemented, their effects must be evaluated, which takes a long time for review."

The ruling and opposition parties are competing to provide emergency disaster relief funds. The ruling Democratic Party, which had negotiated with the government to provide emergency disaster relief funds to the bottom 70% income households, changed its stance within a week to advocate for 100% payment to all households.

The United Future Party argued for universal payment of 500,000 won per person to all citizens. The party also proposed providing a special disaster scholarship of 1 million won to university and graduate students. To realize the special disaster scholarship proposed this time, along with the previously suggested 500,000 won emergency disaster relief fund per person, approximately 28 trillion won in budget is required.

Additionally, Lee Nak-yeon, chairman of the Democratic Party's COVID-19 National Crisis Overcoming Committee, announced plans to prepare a "blind spot 3rd supplementary budget" for high school students, university students, job seekers, and young workers facing difficulties in studies and employment. Kim Boo-kyum, chairman of the Democratic Party's Daegu-Gyeongbuk Election Countermeasures Committee, also stated, "Since COVID-19 has disrupted university (graduate) students' studies, we will request the government to refund 20% of the first semester tuition."

In this regard, the government maintains that it is still premature to discuss new policies requiring additional funding before submitting the 2nd supplementary budget to the National Assembly.

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