Election D-9, 4th Round of Support Funds Begin... Will It Be a Turning Point for the Democratic Party?

On the 25th, the supplementary budget bill worth 15 trillion won for the 4th disaster relief fund payment is being passed at the National Assembly plenary session. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] On the 29th, just 9 days before the by-elections, the distribution of the 4th disaster relief fund began, drawing keen attention from both ruling and opposition parties to its impact. The ruling party secretly hopes to thaw public sentiment, which has frozen due to the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal, even if only slightly, while the opposition is wary that the factors behind last year's general election defeat might resurface.

Lee Nak-yeon, the Standing Election Committee Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at the Central Election Committee meeting that day, "The government and ruling party have prepared a relatively large-scale disaster relief fund after a long time," adding, "Although insufficient, I hope it will provide some help to the lives of ordinary people and the middle class." He also emphasized that the Democratic Party has played a leading role in the distribution of the 4th disaster relief fund.

Appearing on TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' Lee evaluated, "The scale has increased compared to the Ministry of Economy and Finance's initial draft, and efforts were made to minimize blind spots such as street vendors." While the Democratic Party stresses that the 4th disaster relief fund is for public welfare regardless of the election, they cannot help but expect some influence on the election results. A Democratic Party official said, "Of course, the support fund is purely for the people, but we also hope it will serve as an opportunity to slightly change the public sentiment worsened by the LH scandal."

At the People Power Party's Central Election Committee meeting that day, there was no mention of the 4th disaster relief fund, with remarks focusing instead on attacks against the government and ruling party. Offering positive evaluations would aid the opposing side, while focusing on criticism risks backlash for ignoring the public's suffering. However, they strongly criticize Democratic Party Seoul mayoral candidate Park Young-sun's pledge to provide 100,000 won in digital currency as 'money populism.' Ahead of the April general election last year, when the 1st disaster relief fund was distributed, many within the People Power Party analyzed that they lost the election because they did not control the 'treasury.'

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, applications for the 4th disaster relief fund, called 'Butemok Fund Plus,' began at 6 a.m. that day. It targets 3.85 million small business owners who are subject to gathering bans or business restrictions or have experienced sales declines, with total payments reaching 6.7 trillion won. Depending on the level of business restrictions and sales decline, recipients receive between 1 million and 5 million won.

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