청, 'Voluntary Donations by High-Income Individuals from the Ruling Party' Alternative "Content Coordinated Between Party and Government" (Update)

Urgent Disaster Relief Fund Processing Accelerates... "President Moon's Aide Urged to Expedite Resolution of Urgent Disaster Relief Fund"

[Asia Economy reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Son Seon-hee] Kang Min-seok, spokesperson for the Blue House, stated on the 22nd, "President Moon Jae-in urged during a meeting with his aides that the emergency disaster relief fund issue must be resolved quickly, no matter what." In particular, the Blue House conveyed that the proposal for voluntary donations by high-income earners, suggested by Cho Jung-sik, the policy chief of the Democratic Party of Korea, was a result of coordinated discussions.

Earlier, President Moon had repeatedly emphasized the need to expedite the processing of the emergency disaster relief fund to support those struggling due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, the National Assembly has yet to reach a consensus on the scope of the emergency disaster relief fund payments.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In this regard, on the 22nd, Cho Jung-sik, policy chief of the Democratic Party, proposed maintaining the policy of providing emergency disaster relief funds to all citizens while reducing the financial burden through voluntary donations from high-income earners. The government has announced a plan to provide payments to the bottom 70% income group, and the Democratic Party had previously announced an expansion to all citizens during the general election campaign.

Regarding this, a senior Blue House official explained, "The existing position of the Blue House was to actively discuss if the ruling and opposition parties reach an agreement, and coordination has been ongoing between the party and the government." The official also said, "The parties involved in the coordination were the party, government, and Blue House. Naturally, Cho Jung-sik’s proposal must have been coordinated between the party and government."

Furthermore, the senior Blue House official explained President Moon’s urging for a swift resolution by saying, "He spoke about the major principles and direction. However, the President has repeatedly urged for prompt processing. Now, he has judged that it is time to bring this to a close."

The senior Blue House official added, "While President Moon does not get involved in the detailed methods, he urged that the plan be finalized and processed quickly."

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