Talk on another round of disaster relief funds raises debate

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon speaks during a Supreme Council meeting of the party at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Some DPK members have recently brought up the issue of an additional round of relief funding to help revive the country's economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

Debate has begun in political circles over the introduction of another round of emergency disaster relief handouts to revive the economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with several ruling bloc heavyweights talking about the need for across-the-board relief funds to ensure all people receive help.

To date, the government has provided relief funds twice, to all citizens in the first round in May and in the form of “selective” support for those hit hard directly by the virus outbreak such as small business owners and freelancers in the second round in September. A third round will be delivered this month, with those eligible set to receive the money starting next Monday.

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon said in his New Year interviews with multiple media outlets that it would take some time for the economy to recover from the damage done by COVID-19 and the government should hasten recovery through financial aid.

“Through the third round of relief funding the government will provide a total of 9.3 trillion won ($85.4 billion) to 5.8 million people but we do not think it is enough,” Lee said during a New Year interview with the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, Dec. 31.

He said the ruling party would review giving out relief funds to all people to boost consumption if the COVID-19 situation gets better with the number of new virus cases decreasing, but would review another round of selective support if the pandemic situation does not improve in terms of the number of new infection cases.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun also implied the possibility of funding that would be available to all people, and Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung welcomed the remarks of the prime minister and DPK chairman.

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP), however, criticized the ruling bloc for trying to use the relief fund as a means to win over voters ahead of April's mayoral by-elections.

The April by-elections are a pressing matter in politics with the mayoral posts of the country's two biggest cities, Seoul and Busan, remaining vacant following the suicide of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon last July and the resignation of Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don last April.

PPP spokesman Bae Joon-young said Thursday that the DPK has brought up the issue of a fourth round of relief funds even before the third round of funding was provided, adding it showed the DPK's plan is not for the people but for itself to win popularity ahead of the by-elections.

“The DPK's sudden plan to give support funds to the people ahead of the by-elections is the same as declaring a plan to bribe voters. … They are planning to ridicule voters by returning the taxes paid by the people to the people,” Bae said in a commentary.

Even if the ruling bloc decides on a fourth round of handouts, controversy is expected to continue especially on the financial soundness of the government as it would need to issue national bonds to fund the handouts.

According to a poll of 500 adults conducted on Wednesday by local pollster Realmeter, 68.1 percent of respondents said they support the idea of another relief fund handout to all people, while 30 percent said they do not support the idea.