Democratic Party Floor Leadership Visits Eumseong, Chungbuk
Unified Floor Leader and Freshmen Lawmakers Volunteer in Gurye, Jeonnam
'Four Major Rivers and Solar Power Political Strife' Is a Stain
[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyemin and Kang Nahum] As heavy rains continued for over ten days causing damage across the country, both ruling and opposition parties have fully committed to 'flood disaster politics.'
Some have given up their vacations to volunteer, while all voiced support for increasing aid funds for flood victims and supplementary budgets. The ruling party has completely suspended election campaigns for the August 29 party convention, and the United Future Party has indefinitely postponed its party name contest, halting internal schedules as they remain highly alert to the disaster situation.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) on the 11th, the unprecedented heavy rains since the 1st have left over 7,500 flood victims across 11 cities and provinces. Deaths and missing persons total 42, and facility damages have been counted at around 20,000 cases, with damages continuing to rise. Due to ongoing monsoon rains, emergency restoration rates have remained in the 50% range.
According to the National Assembly schedule, the first and second weeks of August are considered unofficial vacation periods. It is a time for lawmakers to reorganize ahead of the 'Budget Settlement National Assembly' starting on the 18th. However, due to the record-breaking flood damage, both ruling and opposition parties have given up their vacations and traveled nationwide to inspect damage and assist with flood recovery.
On this day as well, lawmakers, including party leaders, visited flood sites in pairs. The Democratic Party’s floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon and the floor leadership visited Eumseong, Chungbuk. On the 12th, candidates for party leader and supreme council members will visit Namwon, Jeonbuk. On the 13th, party leader Lee Hae-chan and supreme council members will visit Hwagejangteo Market in Hadong, Gyeongnam to support recovery efforts.
The United Future Party’s emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in and floor leader Joo Ho-young visited Gurye, Jeonnam the previous day, and Joo Ho-young stayed to volunteer on this day as well. The party plans to split into two groups to inspect damage and assist flood recovery at the Gurye 5-day Market in Jeonnam and Hwagejangteo Market in Hadong, Gyeongnam. The party’s member councils are also recruiting volunteers to support recovery efforts in the Honam region and elsewhere.
Both parties have effectively voiced unified support for supplementary budgets for flood recovery and damage assistance. The Democratic Party hinted at the possibility of a supplementary budget, and both the United Future Party and the People’s Party agreed on its necessity. The Democratic Party plans to hold an emergency high-level party-government meeting on the 12th to review the need for supplementary budget formation, including emergency fund expenditures.
Both ruling and opposition parties agreed on increasing aid funds for flood victims. Floor leader Joo Ho-young has advocated for quickly revising the enforcement decree to raise the support limit, and the Democratic Party will discuss this at the high-level party-government meeting on the 12th. According to current government regulations, if a house is completely destroyed or washed away, victims can receive 13 million KRW in support. For flooded houses, the support is 1 million KRW, which has been frozen for 15 years since 2006. Additionally, there is no separate compensation for household appliances and furniture damaged by water, leading to criticism that the current system does not provide realistic damage compensation.
There are also signs of moves to establish a special disaster committee within the National Assembly. Democratic Party lawmaker Oh Young-hwan of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee proposed forming a special committee the previous day, and members of the United Future Party’s Public Administration Committee reportedly agreed.
However, the renewed controversy over the Four Major Rivers Project, which was promoted during the Lee Myung-bak administration, has cast a shadow over the rare atmosphere of bipartisan cooperation.
On this day as well as the previous day, lawmakers from both sides engaged in disputes over the Four Major Rivers Project. United Future Party lawmaker Song Seok-jun claimed on a radio show that "the Four Major Rivers Project created large reservoirs that prevented flooding damage in surrounding areas," while Kim Jin-ae of the Open Democratic Party, classified as pro-government, countered, "The problem arose because the reservoir capacity was exceeded, forcing simultaneous water release."
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