Sim Sang-jung "Finance, Necessary for People's Livelihood" Proposes Special COVID-19 Act

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[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] On the 1st, Sim Sang-jung, a member of the Justice Party, proposed the "Special Act on Compensation for Losses and Support for Damages Due to Infectious Disease Disasters such as Coronavirus" (Corona Compensation Support Special Act), which aims to compensate self-employed individuals up to 70% of their rent and operating profits in the event of a first-class infectious disease outbreak like COVID-19.

The bill includes provisions that prevent tenants from claiming late fees or terminating contracts and establishes a basis for universal disaster relief payments. As a funding measure, Rep. Sim proposed issuing interest-free "special disaster government bonds" and collecting a "disaster solidarity purpose tax" to create a special disaster solidarity fund. The Justice Party plans to promote this bill as a party policy.

At a press conference, Rep. Sim emphasized, "Finance is necessary to take care of people's livelihoods," and added, "There must be no neglect of the people's suffering by prioritizing fiscal concerns."

The support targets include general small business owners, special employment workers, and daily laborers. For general small business owners, support is provided within half of the amount decreased if sales drop by 30% or more compared to the same month of the previous year. For special employment workers and daily laborers, support is provided within half of the decreased amount if income decreases by 30% or more.

Rep. Sim stated, "K-quarantine cannot be sustained with intermittent 'piecemeal support' that demands unilateral sacrifice from the people any longer," and urged, "A provisional Corona Loss Compensation Special Committee with legislative authority should be promptly formed in the February extraordinary session to comprehensively review related livelihood bills."

Rep. Sim particularly noted, "COVID-19 is expected to continue at least until the end of the year, and the possibility of repeated pandemics is very high," adding, "To institutionalize the state's responsibility, citizen solidarity, and burden-sharing during infectious disease disasters, we intend to enact this as a permanent law rather than a temporary one." He explained, "Because loss compensation and damage support cover a wide range of subjects and diverse types of compensation and support, we decided to implement it through a special act."

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