Lee Nak-yeon: "The supplementary budget will be discussed this week and submitted to the National Assembly next week"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, predicted on the 21st that "the framework will be established within this week, and it will go through the Cabinet meeting next week before being submitted to the National Assembly" regarding the supplementary budget bill for disaster relief payments.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

After concluding a discussion meeting on the Democratic Party's Social Solidarity Fund at the National Assembly in the afternoon, Lee met with reporters and introduced the schedule, saying, "Around tomorrow, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Hong Nam-ki, Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy Kim Sang-jo, and Party Policy Committee Chairman Hong Ik-pyo will meet for full-scale consultations."

Regarding the confidential high-level party-government consultation held at the Prime Minister's official residence that afternoon, he said, "The basic principles and direction were already established at the Blue House meeting a few days ago," adding, "Whether there will be some concretization remains to be seen."

In response to criticism that there is a large gap between the government and the Democratic Party's proposals, he expressed a different view on the facts. He explained, "The Ministry of Economy and Finance's proposal has not yet been properly presented," and "Since the party also submitted multiple proposals, it is somewhat misleading to say there is a difference between the party's and the government's proposals." He said, "We need to discuss it," and "detailed discussions will take place." Lee emphasized, "What is more important in the supplementary budget is not the overall scale but how far and to whom the support will be provided."

Earlier, at the Social Solidarity Fund Law discussion meeting, Lee mentioned, "Self-employed, small business owners, temporary and daily workers, and other irregular workers have been pushed to the brink of survival," adding, "The government supports them financially, but there are limits." Regarding the financial sector's decision to establish an external solidarity fund, he said, "We will expedite institutional measures such as strengthening incentives to support and spread such good will between labor and management."

He explained, "To maintain the community, private sector pain-sharing and mutual aid are urgently needed," and "The party is exploring a loss compensation system along with a profit-sharing system. Our idea is that economic actors within the value chain share cooperative profits, while those outside the value chain support each other through the Social Solidarity Fund."

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