Ruling Party Accelerates Compensation for Self-Employed Losses: "Compensation by April at the Latest"

Lee Nak-yeon Representative & Hong Ik-pyo Policy Committee Chairman "February National Assembly Processing"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] The Democratic Party of Korea has reiterated its determination to pass the compensation system for losses suffered by self-employed individuals in the February National Assembly session. They also presented a roadmap of "processing in February, payment in March."

On the morning of the same day, Lee Nak-yeon, the party leader, said at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, "Last weekend, I visited Namdaemun Market with Park Young-sun, former Minister of SMEs and Startups and candidate for the Seoul mayoral by-election, and lawmaker Woo Sang-ho," adding, "I heard desperate cries that daily sales are less than 50,000 won or that 30% of the stores have closed," emphasizing the need to introduce the compensation system. He continued, "The achievements in COVID-19 prevention were made through their tears," and said, "They suffered losses while cooperating with government policies to protect the lives and safety of the people. Fair regulations must be established to provide appropriate compensation." Lee also stated, "Opposition party lawmakers have also submitted bills related to institutionalizing the compensation system to the National Assembly," and expressed hope that it would be discussed in the February extraordinary session.

On the same day, Hong Young-pyo, the party’s Policy Committee Chair, appeared on MBC Radio’s "Kim Jong-bae’s Focus" interview and said, "There is no disagreement on speeding up the legislation," adding, "Payments should be made as soon as possible within March, and at the latest by early April." Hong identified speed, elimination of blind spots, and fairness as key issues surrounding the system. He said, "We are considering legislation with the three principles of speeding up support, minimizing blind spots as meticulously as possible, and considering fairness."

Regarding the issue of securing funding, he also mentioned that an additional supplementary budget (Chugyeong) might be necessary. Hong said, "If necessary, a supplementary budget should be made, but discussions will vary depending on the scale and method," adding, "When utilizing additionally secured funds, we need to consider how much burden it may place on national fiscal management."

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