"Communication Expenses Decreased, Yet"… Budget Office and Budget Committee Criticize 'Lump-Sum Payment'

Budget Committee Specialist: "Decrease in Communication Expenses Not Largely Due to COVID-19"

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun is attending the plenary session of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts held at the National Assembly on the 25th, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] In the National Assembly report released to assist the review of the 4th supplementary budget (supplementary budget) bill, concerns were unanimously expressed about the "uniform payment of 20,000 KRW for communication fees." Following the Budget Policy Office, the review report by the expert committee of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, which serves as a direct reference for the review, contained even harsher criticism.

According to the 4th supplementary budget review report released by the senior expert of the Budget and Accounts Committee on the 15th, the committee cited statistics from the Household Trends Survey by Statistics Korea, pointing out that the average monthly household expenditure on communication services decreased after the full-scale spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Mobile phone data traffic increased from 510,597 TB (terabytes) in July last year to 665,965 TB in July this year. However, the average monthly household expenditure on communication services was recorded as 116,000 KRW in the second quarter of last year and 114,000 KRW in the second quarter of this year, a 1.8% decrease compared to the same period last year.

The Budget and Accounts Committee stated, "If the burden of communication expenses has increased due to the expansion of non-face-to-face activities, there may be a need for communication fee support," presenting these figures together. However, it pointed out that "communication expenses do not appear to have been significantly affected by COVID-19." This suggests that the purpose of the 4th supplementary budget to alleviate the burden caused by the spread of COVID-19 and the payment of communication fees lack a direct correlation.

The committee considered that the payment was "intended to have an income compensation effect for affected households" and viewed the uniform payment to all citizens aged 13 and over as "considering rapid execution within the year."

However, the committee pointed out that for the public, the effect is only an "indirect income compensation," while directly, government funds accrue to telecommunications companies, effectively compensating their sales. It explained that this could reduce cases of overdue or unpaid bills caused by COVID-19 damage, thereby reducing sales losses. Accordingly, the committee advised, "Regarding the support for basic livelihood security recipients and low-income groups, where telecommunications companies provide discounts at their own expense according to the law, the companies should bear the cost first and then be compensated through indirect support methods such as tax benefits."

The committee also criticized the selection of the age criterion "aged 13 and over" as inadequate.

It stated, "Since remote classes are being conducted from elementary school students, and upper-grade elementary students have a high smartphone ownership rate," and criticized, "Remote classes apply to all schools except for preschool children, and there is no basis to treat them differently."

Previously, the Budget Policy Office's analysis report pointed out issues such as ▲discrimination against citizens who do not use certain mobile communication services and ▲concerns about delays in project execution for budget phone telecommunications companies. While the Budget Policy Office's report addressed issues of fairness and rapid execution, the Budget and Accounts Committee went further to criticize the policy design itself.

The ruling and opposition parties agreed to hold a plenary session on the 22nd to process the 4th supplementary budget bill. However, coordination of opinions on project details such as communication fees was omitted. Since the ruling and opposition parties still show differences, processing may be delayed during the review process. Choo Kyung-ho, the People Power Party floor leader of the Budget and Accounts Committee, expressed agreement on executing the supplementary budget before Chuseok but left room for the possibility that "if final coordination is not achieved, the processing time may be further delayed."

The Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee (STIBC), the standing committee responsible for preliminary review of the communication fee project, is also experiencing conflicts over the so-called "Kakao text message" controversy involving Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Young-chan, making it difficult to predict when the meeting will be held.

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