Will Lee Jae-myung's 'Gyeonggi-do Residents Disaster Relief Fund' Be Distributed Before Chuseok?

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung held a press conference on the 13th and announced that disaster relief funds of 250,000 won per person will be provided to the top 12% of Gyeonggi residents.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Attention is focused on whether Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's 'disaster relief fund' payment to the top 12% income earners among Gyeonggi residents can be made before Chuseok.

This is because a heated debate continues among Democratic Party members of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council over Lee Jae-myung's 'disaster relief fund payment to all residents.' Accordingly, all eyes are already on what deliberation results will be produced at the Gyeonggi Council's extraordinary session, held from the 31st of this month to the 15th of next month.

Gyeonggi Province recently submitted a revised supplementary budget proposal totaling 37.5657 trillion won, including a budget of 634.8 billion won to support 2.54 million Gyeonggi residents in the top 12% income bracket excluded from the government's disaster relief fund, with 250,000 won each, to the Provincial Council.

The controversy over Governor Lee's disaster relief fund payment to high-income earners was triggered when on the 9th, the Democratic Party representative of the Provincial Council, Park Geun-cheol, and other council representatives held a press conference proposing that Gyeonggi Province pay disaster relief funds to high-income earners excluded from the government's disaster relief fund support.

Subsequently, anti-Lee Jae-myung faction council members supporting former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun strongly opposed Park's press conference. Furthermore, they (44 members) requested the convening of a 'General Assembly for Democratic Operation of the First Negotiation Group' on the 20th. Pro-Lee Jae-myung faction council members also countered by demanding a general assembly to discuss the disaster relief fund payment.

Later, at the general assembly held on the 27th, Park Geun-cheol publicly apologized for the press conference related to the disaster relief fund, acknowledging that it somewhat lacked the consensus of all council members, narrowing the gap between the two sides.

Kim Sung-soo, the Democratic Party's chief spokesperson, stated, "(The proposal for disaster relief fund payment to all residents) was promoted as part of routine policy proposals," adding, "Given the timing, it seems to have been received sensitively. Park apologized at the general assembly and promised to maintain political neutrality going forward."

However, the 'conflict gap' over the disaster relief fund between pro-Lee Jae-myung and anti-Lee Jae-myung faction council members has not been completely bridged. Some members downplayed the press conference, saying Park's apology "lacks sincerity."

As a result, extraordinary attention is focused on the Provincial Council's extraordinary session starting on the 31st. The council will review the supplementary budget, including the 'disaster relief fund for all residents.' If the council cuts or does not deliberate on the budget during this process, the payment of the disaster relief fund to all residents before Chuseok will be off the table.

Earlier, on the 13th, Governor Lee announced that he would pay 250,000 won per person in disaster relief funds to the top 12% of Gyeonggi residents excluded from the government's disaster relief fund support, in consultation with the 31 cities and counties within the province, among the 13.8 million Gyeonggi residents.

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