Ruling and Opposition Parties to Approve Supplementary Budget at Plenary Session on 29th... Disaster Relief Payments to Be Made Next Month (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The ruling and opposition parties have agreed to pass the second supplementary budget bill to provide emergency disaster relief funds to all citizens at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 29th. Accordingly, a support fund of 1 million won for a family of four is expected to be paid as early as the beginning of next month.

Yoon Hoo-duk of the Democratic Party of Korea and Kim Han-pyo, Deputy Floor Leader of the United Future Party, held a meeting at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 27th and agreed on this schedule.

In the agreement, the ruling and opposition parties decided to handle the supplementary budget bill and related legislation at the plenary session on the 29th, as well as the '2020 National Guarantee Consent for Principal and Interest Repayment of Crisis Overcoming and Employment Support Period Industry Stabilization Fund Bonds' to respond to the national disaster situation caused by COVID-19.

They also agreed to promptly process a special law on the collection and use of donations for the emergency disaster relief fund in the standing committee.

Furthermore, the 'Telegram Nth Room Recurrence Prevention Act' will be prioritized in the Judiciary Committee, and other bills submitted to standing committees such as the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and the Gender Equality and Family Committee will also be processed swiftly.

Additionally, the Internet Specialized Bank Act and the Industrial Bank Act, which serve as the basis for establishing the 'Period Industry Stabilization Fund for Crisis Overcoming and Employment' and were controversial after being rejected due to mass opposition from the Democratic Party in the plenary session in March, will be handled simultaneously.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Following the agreement between the ruling and opposition parties on this day, the review of the supplementary budget by 13 standing committees, including the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, will also begin in earnest. Lee Jong-bae, the United Future Party's secretary of the Budget Committee, told reporters, "The Budget Committee will hold a full meeting at 10 a.m. tomorrow and proceed with all remaining procedures in time for the plenary session on the 29th."

He added, "There will be questions during the full meeting. I expect things to be settled by the morning of the day after tomorrow. Currently, there is no time to submit a revised supplementary budget, so we have instructed the Ministry of Economy and Finance to promptly submit the expenditure restructuring plan for the 1 trillion won burden to be borne by local governments."

In the standing committees, the Public Administration and Security Committee held a full meeting today and forwarded the supplementary budget bill to the subcommittee. On the 28th, the Planning and Finance Committee and the Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee will hold full meetings to review the bill.

Meanwhile, the estimated budget required for the emergency disaster relief fund is about 14.3 trillion won. Previously, the government set the budget at 9.7 trillion won, including 2.1 trillion won in local government funds, based on payments to the bottom 70% income bracket, and submitted a supplementary budget bill worth 7.6 trillion won to the National Assembly. However, as the ruling party and government expanded the payment target to all citizens, the required budget increased accordingly.

Subsequently, the ruling party and government announced that of the additional 4.6 trillion won needed, 3.6 trillion won would be covered by issuing government bonds, and 1 trillion won by local government funds. However, the United Future Party criticized the additional bond issuance, saying, "Are they about to throw a debt party?" and demanded adjustments to expenditure budgets. After several days of tug-of-war, the ruling and opposition parties reached an agreement yesterday to secure the 1 trillion won local government burden through expenditure adjustments.

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