National Mayors, County Chiefs, and District Heads "5th Disaster Relief Fund Should Be Provided to All Citizens Nationwide"

National Association of Mayors, County Governors, and District Heads Officially Announces Basic Local Governments' Position... "The Health Insurance Premium Criteria Proposed to Select the Bottom 80% Income Population Is Neither Fair Nor Objectively Effective in Identifying Eligible Individuals"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Korea Association of Mayors, County Governors, and District Heads (Chairman Hwang Myung-seon, Mayor of Nonsan) urged the government and the National Assembly to provide the 5th disaster relief fund currently being promoted by the government to all citizens without selection, in line with the nature of a ‘nationwide consolation payment.’

The Association urgently collected opinions from 226 mayors, county governors, and district heads nationwide on July 7-8 regarding the payment method of the 5th disaster relief fund and expressed the position that it should be paid universally to all citizens without selection.

The Association stated that among the 182 local government heads who participated in the urgent survey, 131 (72.0%) supported universal payment to all citizens, emphasizing that even considering the payment situations of the previous four disaster relief funds, the first disaster relief fund payment method, which was paid to all citizens, was the most effective at the local level.

On July 1, the central government held an extraordinary Cabinet meeting and decided to provide 250,000 KRW per person to the bottom 80% of the population as a national support fund to compensate the many citizens affected by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, resolve polarization, and improve income distribution. The government prepared and submitted to the National Assembly the 2nd supplementary budget bill, which includes the local governments bearing 20% of the total budget, amounting to 2.3 trillion KRW.

However, the Korea Association of Mayors, County Governors, and District Heads stated that the method proposed by the central government to select beneficiaries based on health insurance premiums to identify the bottom 80% is neither fair nor objectively feasible.

They also argued that it is necessary to consider that this selection process would explosively increase the administrative burden on nationwide city, county, and district offices as well as town, township, and neighborhood offices, which are already overwhelmed with COVID-19 response duties.

Furthermore, regarding the top 20% income group excluded from the selective payment by the central government, they explained that urgent support could first be provided to all citizens, followed by supplementary measures such as selective tax recovery.

In addition, they added that the government’s decision to unilaterally impose 20% of the required budget burden on local governments without prior consultation is inappropriate, as COVID-19 is a nationwide universal issue that should be fully borne by the central government, while local governments should be responsible for policies with regional and selective characteristics.

The Korea Association of Mayors, County Governors, and District Heads reiterated that the disaster relief fund should be paid entirely by the national government to all citizens, stating that local governments will do their best until COVID-19 is completely eradicated and will make thorough preparations on the ground to ensure that rapid and universal disaster relief payments are made to all citizens.

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Statement of the Korea Association of Mayors, County Governors, and District Heads on the COVID-19 Coexistence National Support Fund Payment

The Korea Association of Mayors, County Governors, and District Heads strongly urges the government and the National Assembly to provide the 5th disaster relief fund currently being promoted by the government to all citizens without selection, in accordance with the nature of a ‘nationwide consolation payment’ as mentioned by President Moon Jae-in.

On July 1, the central government decided at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting to provide 250,000 KRW per person to the bottom 80% of the population as a national support fund to compensate the many citizens affected by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, resolve polarization, and improve income distribution. To this end, the central government estimated a fiscal requirement of about 10.4 trillion KRW and prepared the 2nd supplementary budget bill, which includes local governments bearing 20% of the total budget amounting to 2.3 trillion KRW, and submitted it to the National Assembly.

The central government, led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, insists on selective support for the bottom 80%, but the method of selecting beneficiaries based on health insurance premiums is neither fair nor objectively feasible. Technically, it is much easier to quickly provide disaster relief funds to all citizens and then supplement with selective tax recovery for the higher-income groups than to select the bottom 80% based on health insurance premiums. Moreover, the selection process would explosively increase the administrative burden on city, county, and district offices as well as town, township, and neighborhood offices, which are already overwhelmed with COVID-19 response duties. Additionally, the proposed method has been criticized as relatively unfair to single-person households and dual-income families.

From July 7 to 8, after urgently collecting opinions from 226 mayors, county governors, and district heads nationwide regarding the payment method of the 5th disaster relief fund, 131 out of 182 local government heads (72.0%) who participated in the survey supported universal payment to all citizens. Our local governments, having observed the payment of the previous four disaster relief funds on the ground, felt that the first disaster relief fund, which was paid to all citizens, was the most effective. Small business owners, who have suffered the most from COVID-19, also support universal payment to all citizens, which supports this view.

Furthermore, the central government is imposing 20% of the 5th disaster relief fund budget burden on local governments without any discussion, which unfairly shifts the financial burden of a central government project onto local governments and violates the principles of autonomy and decentralization. COVID-19 is a nationwide universal issue that should be fully borne by the central government, while local governments should be responsible for policies with regional and selective characteristics. Moreover, local governments are currently in a very difficult financial situation due to COVID-19 response and welfare projects.

Our local governments will do their best until COVID-19 is completely eradicated and will make thorough preparations to ensure that rapid and universal disaster relief payments are made to all citizens. We once again urge the government and the National Assembly to provide the disaster relief fund entirely by national funding to all citizens.

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