Party and Government: "The 3rd Disaster Relief Fund Will Be Fully Distributed by January Next Year"

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Chief Presidential Secretary Noh Young-min are taking a commemorative photo at the high-level party-government consultation held at the National Assembly on the 27th. From the left: Park Kwang-on, Secretary General of the Democratic Party; Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission; Oh Young-hoon, Secretary to Lee Nak-yeon; Han Jeong-ae, Chair of the Policy Committee; Kim Sang-jo, Chief Policy Officer of the Blue House; Chief Secretary Noh; Prime Minister Chung; Leader Lee; Kim Tae-nyeon, Floor Leader; Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance; Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups; Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor; Kwon Deok-cheol, Minister of Health and Welfare; Koo Yoon-cheol, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination; Lee Ho-seung, Chief Economic Secretary to the President. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The government and the ruling party have decided to provide customized damage relief funds to small business owners and employment-vulnerable groups affected by the third wave of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) by January next year.

Choi In-ho, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced on the afternoon of the 27th, right after the high-level party-government-civil society council, that they would implement such COVID-19 damage relief measures.

Spokesperson Choi explained, "The government plans to announce the customized damage relief measures on the 29th. Cash support such as the Small Business Owner Support Fund will be executed from early January with procedures simplified as much as possible, and the budget for quarantine activities and customized package support will be promptly executed from January 1st using next year's budget."

Regarding the background of this relief support, he said, "The party and government have taken the difficulties faced by the people and livelihoods due to the recent spread of COVID-19 very seriously. Despite this critical time, small business owners and vulnerable groups who have faithfully followed quarantine rules while enduring inconvenience and pain should have their difficulties alleviated quickly. We agreed to focus support on those experiencing significant hardships, such as affected small business owners and employment-vulnerable groups."

Spokesperson Choi refrained from specifying the exact scale of the relief support. However, he stated, "The customized damage relief measures responding to the third wave will mobilize all available resources, including contingency funds and fund reallocations, and will be prepared at a scale that greatly exceeds the approximately 3 trillion won contingency fund reflected by the National Assembly. Common support will be provided to small business owners who suffered business damages, and additional differential support funds will be provided to industries subject to gathering bans or restrictions according to quarantine rules to reduce fixed costs such as rent."

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