Ruling Party and Government Predict Clash Over Disaster Relief Fund at First Budget Committee Meeting

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The ruling party and the government have entered a tense standoff over the largest-ever budget proposal of 604.4 trillion won. The Democratic Party of Korea has supported the presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's proposal for an additional nationwide disaster relief payment, but the government opposes it citing fiscal constraints, making a power struggle between the party and the government inevitable.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 5th, the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts will discuss the possibility of providing additional nationwide disaster relief payments using extra tax revenue during the comprehensive policy questioning session held in the afternoon. Originally, the committee was scheduled to meet in the morning, but the meeting was postponed to the afternoon after Broadcasting and Communications Commission Chairman Han Sang-hyuk tested positive for COVID-19, leading most attendees including Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum to undergo COVID-19 testing.

During the afternoon session, conflict between the party and the government over the nationwide disaster relief payment is expected. The Democratic Party holds the position that expansionary fiscal policy is unavoidable to overcome COVID-19 and revive economic vitality.

Cho Jung-sik, the standing chief of the party's election campaign headquarters, stated at the Democratic Party's morning meeting, "Candidate Lee Jae-myung's promises will continue to be realized," adding, "The party decided at yesterday's caucus meeting to prioritize passing the bill for recovering development gains promised by the candidate during the regular session, and besides that, we will support and promote appropriate-scale household support, strengthened loss compensation for small business owners, and disaster relief payments at the party level."

Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering opening remarks at the Election Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held at the National Assembly on the 5th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

The Democratic Research Institute, the party's think tank, also agreed with this view. On a radio program that day, Roh Woong-rae, head of the Democratic Research Institute, was asked whether the 'additional disaster relief payment plan' would be set as the party's official stance, to which he replied, "Yes, because it is what the candidate said," and added, "There is an excess tax revenue of 10 to 15 trillion won at the end of the year, which could be used to pay off national debt deficits, but we want to give it to the people suffering from COVID-19," supporting candidate Lee's pledge.

However, on the 3rd, Prime Minister Kim expressed his opposition to the additional nationwide disaster relief payment, stating, "There is no fiscal capacity at the moment." Attention will be focused on whether the government's position will change during the budget committee meeting that day in light of the Prime Minister's remarks.

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