Yoon Transition Committee's First Task 'COVID-19 Measures'... Additional Budget Likely to Accelerate

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol holds a plaque ceremony with Ahn Cheol-soo, the chairman of the transition committee, Kwon Young-se, the vice chairman, and other attendees at the transition committee set up at the Financial Supervisory Service Training Institute in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 18th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] The first task of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's presidential transition committee is expected to be COVID-19 measures.

The transition committee is reportedly set to appoint members for the COVID-19 Emergency Response Special Committee, directly led by Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo, over the first weekend since its launch on the 20th.

As the COVID-19 situation has affected the economy, industry, and jobs overall for three years, there is an internal consensus within the transition committee that COVID-19 measures are urgent. The fiscal, quarantine, and medical measures to be introduced by the transition committee are expected to be the first test of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's capabilities.

In fact, President-elect Yoon also revealed this during the first plenary meeting of the transition committee on the 18th and on Facebook. Yoon said, "I ask the COVID-19 Emergency Response Special Committee to focus on loss compensation for small business owners and self-employed people, as well as quarantine and medical issues," adding, "We will prepare to proactively respond to any future pandemic crises that may arise."

Primarily, the task is to prepare fiscal measures for loss compensation for small business owners and self-employed people who were directly hit by COVID-19. The supplementary budget size is expected to be around the "50 trillion won" mark, which was a pledge during Yoon's candidacy.

The Yoon camp aims to draft an additional COVID-19 supplementary budget before inauguration and pass it in the National Assembly by April at the latest. The appointment of Song Eon-seok, a former Ministry of Strategy and Finance official, as the new floor deputy leader succeeding Representative Chu Kyung-ho, who served as the secretary of the transition committee's first economic division, is also interpreted as a move to drive the "COVID supplementary budget" forward.

The issue of stagflation (economic recession amid rising prices) accompanying large-scale fiscal expansion policies has also become a major concern in COVID-19 measures. After a meeting on the 18th with members of the first economic division responsible for macro and financial policies, Chairman Ahn told reporters, "We discussed compensation for small business owners' damages, and we had an in-depth discussion on how to prevent stagflation problems if a large amount of money is suddenly released."

Extending the maturity of loans for small business owners and self-employed people, which is due at the end of this month, is also reportedly being strongly considered. This requires consultation with the Moon Jae-in administration and the Democratic Party. Earlier, spokesperson Kim Eun-hye for the president-elect also stated, "The principal and interest repayments for small business owners and self-employed people will be due sequentially at the end of this month," adding, "There will soon be a time when Chairman Ahn can speak about extending loan maturities."

The existing social distancing policy, which is limited by uniform standards such as personnel and time, may also be shifted to a "scientific" quarantine policy based on big data. This was also a common pledge during the candidacies of President-elect Yoon and Chairman Ahn.

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