Ruling Party Pushes Supplementary Budget... Also Considering Nationwide Disaster Relief Fund

The Opposition Party Is Negative About the Supplementary Budget

Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 31st. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The ruling party is pushing for the formulation of a second supplementary budget (supplementary budget). They are considering not only loss compensation for self-employed individuals currently under discussion but also disaster relief funds for the entire population.

Yoon Ho-jung, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated at the Supreme Council meeting on the 31st, "The Democratic Party plans to devise additional fiscal measures, including a supplementary budget to inject warmth into the real economy that has contracted this summer." This clarified the policy following his remark on the 28th that "if the second supplementary budget is prepared this year, it will serve as a special lubricant for our economy." A supplementary budget of 15 trillion won was already implemented once in March.

A key Democratic Party official told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "To provide disaster relief such as loss compensation, issuing government bonds for the supplementary budget will be inevitable," adding, "The opposition party should clarify their stance on the supplementary budget rather than just advocating for loss compensation to facilitate smooth discussions." The Loss Compensation Act is being discussed in the National Assembly’s Industry, Resources, Trade, and Small and Medium Venture Business Committee, but progress is stalled as the government opposes retroactive application. The government believes that if only the loss from restricted business hours is considered, the compensation will be insufficient, and in many cases, previously paid support funds might have to be refunded. For this reason, there are also claims that sufficiently providing a fifth round of disaster relief funds is a realistic alternative.

Regardless of the direction taken, it is predicted that more than 10 trillion won in funds will be required. On the 25th, Lee Hak-young, chairman of the Industry Committee, demanded at the legislative hearing on the Loss Compensation Act that "about 20 trillion won in resources should be secured." The possibility of disaster relief funds for the entire population is also increasing. In a phone interview, Chairman Lee said, "It is necessary to stimulate consumption."

However, the fiscal authorities and opposition parties are expected to oppose this. Kim Ki-hyun, acting leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, said on MBC radio that day regarding disaster relief funds for the entire population, "I am not sure if there is fiscal capacity," and also commented on loss compensation for small business owners, "It does not seem to be an issue that requires the formulation of a supplementary budget."

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