Ruling Party Proposes "Year-End Income Deduction Support of 1 Million Won"... Budget Increase to Prevent 'Itaewon Tragedy' (Comprehensive)

2023 Budget Review Direction
Focus on Supporting Livelihoods and Socially Vulnerable Groups

29,000 More Senior Job Opportunities
Buffet-Style Special Meals for Military Personnel and Missile Acquisition

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Hyunji Kwon] The People Power Party announced that it will support up to 1 million KRW per household through year-end income deductions and increase the related budget for next year by 766.7 billion KRW. This plan focuses on alleviating the burden on people's livelihoods and supporting socially vulnerable groups. The party also decided to reflect the budget for establishing national and social safety nets to prevent the recurrence of safety accidents, such as the Itaewon Halloween tragedy, by confirming specific projects.

On the 8th, Seong Il-jong, chairman of the Policy Committee, held a press conference at the National Assembly and outlined the direction for reviewing the 2023 budget bill based on these points.

The People Power Party's budget review emphasized increasing social welfare budgets for livelihoods and vulnerable groups while maintaining sound fiscal discipline. Chairman Seong said, "The total budget for social welfare aimed at livelihoods and vulnerable groups under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has increased by 10.9 trillion KRW compared to this year," adding, "We will review next year's budget from the perspectives of livelihoods, vulnerable groups, and the future." He also added, "We will do our best to actively reflect the Democratic Party's reasonable livelihood budget as well."

Specifically, the budget for supporting public transportation use by low-income citizens will be increased by 11.9 billion KRW, and an additional 10.1 billion KRW will be allocated to expand double-decker electric buses. Furthermore, 252.2 billion KRW has been set aside to support financially vulnerable groups in the high-interest rate era, with plans to significantly raise the eligibility for the refinancing loan program from 400 million KRW to 900 million KRW. Alongside this, 234.2 billion KRW will be allocated to expand loan limits by up to 500 million KRW, and for about 30,000 marginal small business owners suffering from high interest rates, an interest rate differential of 1-2% will be newly reflected within a market loan limit of 30 million KRW.

The ruling party plans to increase the budget by 12.3 billion KRW to strengthen investigations and victim support for the four major livelihood crimes: drugs, voice phishing, stalking, and jeonse fraud. They also plan to increase the budget to support socially vulnerable groups, including the disabled and patients with severe illnesses. Lee Cheol-gyu, the ruling party whip of the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee who attended the event, said, "We will provide a total of 34.5 billion KRW to establish regional specialized institutions for rare diseases and new specialized nursing hospitals for rare and intractable diseases such as Lou Gehrig's disease." Additionally, 4.6 billion KRW will be invested in 200 call taxis to guarantee mobility rights for the disabled, and the budget will be increased by 21.4 billion KRW to support 1,000 more workers with severe disabilities.

By increasing the budget related to socially vulnerable groups, the emergency relief fund limit will be raised from 500,000 KRW to 1 million KRW, and a new monthly learning assistance allowance of 200,000 KRW will be provided to children aging out of protective care. The settlement support fund for North Korean defectors will increase from 8 million KRW to 10 million KRW per single-person household this year. The budget will also be increased to reduce additional surcharges on parcel delivery for island and mountainous residents, lower ferry fares for island residents, and provide half-price fares during holidays.

Sung Il-jong, Policy Committee Chairman of the People Power Party [Photo by Yonhap News]

The childcare fee unit price for infants and disabled children, representing future generations, will be increased by an additional 5%. Plans are underway to raise the monthly dual-duty allowance for daycare teachers by 75,000 KRW, the homeroom teacher allowance by 20,000 KRW, and the extended care teacher allowance by 10,000 KRW. The operating hours of elementary after-school care classrooms will be extended until 8 p.m., and additional budget will be invested to upgrade programs. Efforts to reduce private education expenses include making currently paid EBS middle school premium lectures free.

Furthermore, monthly allowances for veterans, merit awardees, and participants in the April 19 Revolution will each be increased by 40,000 KRW, and buffet-style special meals using local specialties will be provided once a month to military personnel. Additionally, 30 billion KRW will be newly allocated to promptly restore multi-layered interception capabilities against North Korean missiles, which were delayed during the Moon Jae-in administration.

Regarding the senior job program, which the opposition party has criticized for significant cuts, it was announced that the total number of jobs will increase by 29,000 compared to this year. Representative Lee stated, "The Democratic Party caused unnecessary anxiety by claiming that senior jobs decreased by 51,000, but this is completely wrong," explaining, "We reduced budget for handout-style support to seniors and significantly increased jobs paying 600,000 KRW and 1 million KRW, resulting in a budget increase of 79 billion KRW and more jobs. The statistics were distorted."

Regarding the recent Itaewon tragedy, the budget for expanding social safety nets is also expected to increase. Chairman Seong said, "It will not take long to identify the cause, and we will prepare a budget to strengthen responses," adding, "Even after the comprehensive questioning ends, the budget will be reflected during the adjustment process. There are adjusted budgets that were reduced by each standing committee, and we will adjust those budgets to increase them."

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