Party and Government "Agree on the Need to Extend Social Distancing... Also Discuss Securing Additional Vaccine Budget"

Request for Active Consideration of Small Business 'Advance Support, Post-Settlement' Method
Discussion on Expanding 100% Compensation for Sales Decline
Implementation of Youth Quarantine Pass Mandatory Application to Reflect Field Voices

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Democratic Party of Korea and the government announced on the 29th that they agreed on the necessity to extend social distancing measures to prevent COVID-19.

On the morning of the same day, the party and government held the '2nd Party-Government Meeting of the COVID-19 Emergency Response Headquarters' at the National Assembly to review the extension of social distancing.

Yoon Ho-jung, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the 'COVID-19 Emergency Party-Government Council' held at the National Assembly on the 29th and is seen talking with Kim Seong-hwan, head of the Small Business Support Team, during the meeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Shin Hyun-young, the party's floor spokesperson, told reporters after the meeting, "It is likely to take more time for indicators such as ICU occupancy rates and severe case deaths to improve," adding, "We agreed on the necessity to extend social distancing." However, she added that they requested the government to consider fine adjustments for sectors expected to suffer significant damage depending on their characteristics.

Spokesperson Shin explained, "Regarding social distancing, candidate Lee Jae-myung also called for full compensation for affected industries," and "We expressed the need for the government to actively consider the small business owners' advance support and post-settlement method." She specifically requested the government to actively review the advance support plan and discussed expanding 100% compensation for revenue losses.

She also explained, "We asked the government to consider legislation that can systematically and actively support not only directly affected industries by COVID-19 but also many citizens by applying the Disaster Management and Safety Act."

Regarding the mandatory youth quarantine pass (vaccination proof or negative test confirmation) system, considering the opposition from parents and the academy industry, she mentioned the need for sufficient compensation for adverse vaccine reactions if the system is made mandatory.

Spokesperson Shin said, "Since candidate Lee mentioned the vaccine national responsibility system, it would be difficult to enforce without clear strengthening of compensation for adverse vaccine reactions," and "Therefore, we requested the government to review whether there are options to recommend or allow voluntary participation in the quarantine pass." She also conveyed that they asked for substantial reflection of field opinions regarding the implementation period.

Along with this, concerning the oral antiviral treatment that the government plans to introduce, she requested sufficient budget allocation and a reasonable prescription system.

The Democratic Party conveyed that although the government has secured 90 million doses of vaccines, it is necessary to secure a larger budget than the current 3.2 trillion won in preparation for the possibility of a fourth vaccination. Spokesperson Shin said, "Additional budget is needed to expand medical institution treatment beds from 19,000 to 25,000, and the budget for oral antiviral treatments is 600 billion won for 600,000 doses, but an additional budget is required for 400,000 more doses."

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