COVID-19 Supplementary Budget Dispute... Lee: "Why No Consistency?" vs Yoon: "Lee Copies My Pledges"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Ki-min Lee and Joo-hee Kang] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, questioned Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, on the 2nd about the additional COVID-19 supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly last month, saying, "When the government was going to provide 3 million won in support, you called it a vote-buying act by the Democratic Party, telling them to cut other budgets, but you eventually agreed. Later, you said you would provide 10 million won, so what is your true intention?"

On the same day, during the 'Social Sector' TV debate hosted by the National Election Commission, Candidate Lee said, "If I am elected, I will secure 50 trillion won through an emergency supplementary budget order to fully compensate for losses that have not been compensated so far, and grant a general amnesty to those who have become credit delinquents due to COVID-19."

Candidate Yoon responded, "Since last year, the Democratic Party has consistently argued that after rushing through a supplementary budget without loss compensation, 50 trillion won should be secured to provide actual compensation to self-employed people who suffered losses. However, neither Candidate Lee nor the Democratic Party talked about actual loss compensation throughout last year and only mentioned universal disaster relief payments. Then, just before the election, they created 50 trillion won to imitate the pledge but ultimately failed to raise it through the supplementary budget and instead rushed through 14 trillion won in the Budget and Accounts Committee," he rebutted.

He continued, "(The People Power Party) reluctantly added 3 trillion won to the 14 trillion won to reach a 17 trillion won agreement for those left out in the blind spots. This is not a government benevolence but a matter of compensating those who suffered damages as a constitutional right through public policy. The 3 million won is inadequate; actual damage must be guaranteed," he emphasized.

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