Lee Jae-myung: "For Small Business Owners Affected by COVID-19, 'Advance Support and Post-Settlement'... Fiscal Support Needed Over Financial Aid"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, emphasized the need for appropriate support and compensation for small business owners and self-employed individuals affected by strengthened COVID-19 quarantine measures, stressing the active formulation of an additional supplementary budget (추경).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 15th, during a visit to Boramae Hospital in Seoul to review COVID-19 response measures, Candidate Lee stated that support and compensation for small business owners should be provided in a 'support first, settle later' manner, expanding 'fiscal' support rather than financial aid. He explained, "If quarantine guidelines are strengthened again, the pain for small business owners and the self-employed could be too great."

Candidate Lee emphasized, "It is necessary to appropriately mix support and compensation in a support-first, settle-later manner, and especially shift from financial support methods, as has been done so far, to expanding fiscal support."

He added, "While the government may find the increased national fiscal burden very challenging, there is also active advocacy from the opposition party, and my position is that support must be increased, so I hope they will respond positively by actively formulating the supplementary budget."

He then addressed the People Power Party, saying, "'Support first, settle later, prioritizing fiscal support over financial aid'?whether they practically cooperate with this approach will determine the sincerity of their statements about 50 trillion won or 100 trillion won support. The public will no longer tolerate being deceived by double-dealing behavior," he added.

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