Jung Sye-kyun: "Perfect preparation for flu... No need to allocate 4th supplementary budget"

Highway Toll Collection During This Chuseok... All Measures to Prevent Gathering Activation for Quarantine Purposes

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun responded to criticisms suggesting the need for free flu vaccinations instead of providing 20,000 KRW in communication subsidies to all citizens by saying, "It is not a realistic idea."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the afternoon of the same day, during a government question session at the National Assembly, Prime Minister Chung stated, "The government has prepared almost perfectly for the flu."

He added, "Flu vaccines have already been prepared without the need for additional budget," and explained, "Normally, free vaccinations are given to 13 million people, but this year, through supplementary budgeting, funds were secured for an additional 6 million doses, making it possible to provide free vaccinations to 19 million people."

He continued, "10 million doses are available for individuals to pay for themselves, so in total, 29 million doses of vaccines are prepared," and explained, "There may be concerns about the remaining 20 million people, but 11 million doses of Tamiflu are also prepared."

Regarding communication subsidies, Prime Minister Chung emphasized, "In a non-face-to-face society, communication is indeed a very important means," and stated, "The government has allocated a budget so that people can use it as a small supplement to their communication expenses," indicating that this policy stance will be maintained.

On the decision to provide selective payments in the current supplementary budget, he said, "Because the resources for this supplementary budget are very limited, we tailored it to help those who really need it," and emphasized, "Especially focusing support on those who are most in need of national assistance, such as self-employed individuals, small business owners, and youth who have suffered greatly due to COVID-19." He also urged the National Assembly to quickly pass the supplementary budget, saying, "The government is preparing so that a significant portion can be paid before Chuseok if the National Assembly promptly approves the budget."

Regarding COVID-19 prevention guidelines during the Chuseok holiday, Prime Minister Chung also announced that highway tolls will not be waived and will be collected as usual. He said, "Statistics show that there is about a 16.5% difference in movement between toll exemption and collection," and added, "Movement is the worst thing for COVID-19. We had no choice but to do this for quarantine purposes, so I hope for your generous understanding. We are determined to take all possible measures to prevent any resurgence during this Chuseok holiday."

Regarding the conservative group's planned rally on October 3, National Foundation Day, he added, "We will use all necessary legal measures to prevent the rally from becoming active."

Minister of the Interior and Safety Jin Young also responded during the government question session to Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Cheong-rae's question, "If a rally is held on October 3, will public authority be deployed?" by saying, "It seems that we will have to do so." Minister Jin emphasized, "Freedom of expression and assembly are very important in a democratic country, but we are facing an unprecedented infectious disease crisis," and added, "If they insist on going ahead, the government will have no choice but to mobilize all public authority to restrain it."

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