Ruling party, gov't agree on relief package

By Kang Seung-woo

The ruling party and the government have reached an agreement to provide emergency disaster relief money to all citizens to help them deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, it remains to be seen whether the relief package will be delivered without issue as the main opposition party does not fully support encouraging high-income earners to voluntarily return the payments.

The initial government scheme was to offer households in the bottom 70 percent of earners a one-off financial aid payment of between 400,000 won ($328) and 1 million won depending on the number of people in each household. However, during the election campaign, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) pledged to give the disaster allowance to every citizen in an effort to gain votes, which the finance ministry opposed due to the strain it would put on the nation's financial soundness.

“Under the principles of emergency and universality, the ruling camp will seek to provide emergency disaster relief funds to all citizens and draft a plan to reduce the financial burden through such efforts as the voluntary contribution of the payouts by social leaders and high income earners,” Rep. Cho Jeong-sik, the DPK's chief policymaker, said on Wednesday night.

The government is set to proceed with the compromised relief scheme as long as it gets the nod from the main opposition United Future Party (UFP).

“If the ruling and opposition parties reach an agreement over the proposal that enables high earners to voluntarily return their payouts, the government would accept that,” said Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who is allegedly playing a role in coordinating the compromise between the two sides.

If the relief plan is finalized, President Moon Jae-in is anticipated to be the first to give back his payout, which Cheong Wa Dae expects will encourage senior government officials, lawmakers and high income earners to join him.

“The President's participation would lead to a series of returns by ruling party lawmakers and government officials,” a DPK official said.

The ruling bloc believes such contributions would help the government save over 1 trillion won.

The DPK urged the opposition side to cooperate on passing the supplementary budget bill of 7.6 trillion won in order to provide the relief package in May.

“As demanded by the UFP, the ruling party and the government have come to a compromise. Now, the ball is in the UFP's court,” DPK floor leader Rep. Lee In-young said in a party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday.

In response to the proposed relief scheme, the UFP criticized it, describing it as an “abnormal management of the state.”

“They are running the government as if they're operating a civic group,” Rep. Kim Jae-won of the UFP, head of the Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, said in a radio interview on the same day.

“Providing the disaster allowance via bond issuance and filling the debt up via voluntary contribution are not proper means to run the country.”

The government also plans to give a tax benefit to those who voluntarily return the payouts and Kim also took issue with it, saying it violates the Tax Law.

In addition, the party demanded that the government provide a modified version of its budget proposal as the previous one did not include issuing government bonds.