Joo Ho-young "Direct Support for Affected Households through Supplementary Budget"
Kim Jong-in "4th Supplementary Budget Soon"
[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun, Kim Hye-min, and Lim Chun-han] The United Future Party is emphasizing 'livelihood' and focusing on field politics. After visiting the flood-affected areas in Honam for four consecutive days to carry out volunteer activities, this time, Emergency Response Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in personally visited Garak Market to check the trends in vegetable prices. He also criticized the government and ruling party for their lukewarm stance on the formation of the 4th supplementary budget (supplementary budget).
On the 14th, Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the United Future Party, stated at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly main building, "From next week, we will request the convening of a temporary National Assembly to faithfully conduct the settlement session," indicating that they would discuss the supplementary budget issue.
He added, "It is a worrisome situation as financial conditions are expected to worsen due to the flood damage," and said, "Although expenditure factors have increased and revenue conditions have deteriorated due to the unexpected adverse factor of COVID-19, we will carefully and meticulously examine whether there have been any unnecessary expansion factors during this period."
Regarding this, Kim Sung-won, the senior deputy floor leader of the United Future Party, said, "From the early stages of the flood damage, the United Future Party promised to visit the livelihood sites, prepare support measures for damage recovery such as urgent supplementary budget formation, and realize disaster relief funds," and added, "Today, to keep that promise, we will submit a request for the convening of the August temporary National Assembly and urge the government and ruling party to decide on the supplementary budget formation."
This stance was also maintained at the 100-day inauguration press conference held that day. Floor leader Joo said, "The government seems to estimate the flood damage at about 500 billion won, but it is expected to exceed the trillion won level," and added, "Direct support to affected households is only possible through the supplementary budget."
Emergency Response Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in also visited Garak Market that morning, held a meeting with merchants, and discussed the recent rise in vegetable prices due to the flood damage. He said, "The political circles, regardless of party lines, must come forward to quickly overcome the flood damage and normalize everything," and added, "Since the government and ruling party share the current situation awareness, they will do their best to restore by promptly allocating the budget or the 4th supplementary budget." Earlier, Chairman Kim criticized the government and ruling party's lukewarm attitude, saying, "They said to have a supplementary budget before the election, but it is unacceptable to refuse the supplementary budget for flood damage."
The United Future Party recently visited Honam and carried out volunteer activities for four consecutive days to listen to voices from the field. On the 13th, about 300 people including floor leader Joo, party-affiliated lawmakers, and aides visited Yongjeon Village in Namwon, Jeonbuk, which was damaged by the flooding of the Seomjin River, to volunteer for flood recovery. They wore rubber pants and boots instead of suits and dress shoes, with towels draped over their shoulders. This is a stark contrast to the times when they frequently engaged in outdoor protests.
Floor leader Joo told reporters who visited Namwon that day, "We plan to establish a system so that volunteer members centered on party members can help more in the future," and added, "Furthermore, I hope that our people will also have a movement or momentum like when many volunteers went to resolve the West Coast oil spill accident."
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