Opposition Pushes for Free Flu Vaccines and Increased Child Special Care Allowance
[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] As the ruling and opposition parties agreed on the 22nd to pass the 4th supplementary budget (추경) bill at the National Assembly plenary session, the 20,000 KRW communication fee support and free flu vaccinations for all citizens have emerged as last-minute contentious issues.
According to the government and the National Assembly on the 20th, the biggest obstacle to passing the 4th supplementary budget bill, which is three days away from the deadline, is the 20,000 KRW communication fee support.
The government and the ruling party allocated a budget of 928.9 billion KRW to provide a one-time 20,000 KRW communication fee support to 46 million people aged 13 and older nationwide. However, the opposition party, the People Power Party, argued to cut this and expand free flu vaccination instead.
The opposition proposes converting 11 million paid flu vaccinations to free ones, expanding the number of free vaccinations to 30 million people, and increasing flu vaccine production so that all citizens can receive free vaccinations during the vaccination period. They expect that an additional budget of 110 billion to 150 billion KRW would be sufficient. In particular, they insist that at least the conversion of paid vaccinations to free ones must be accepted.
Regarding this, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki said at the National Assembly Budget Committee on the 18th, "It seems difficult for the government to accept nationwide free flu vaccinations," but the Democratic Party is reportedly internally reviewing a plan to accept the opposition's demand to expand free flu vaccinations.
However, since there is considerable public opposition and resistance within the Justice Party and the ruling party, there is speculation that some changes may be made to the support targets and project details.
The ruling and opposition parties are expected to discuss specific plans at the Budget Committee subcommittee on the 21st. If the ruling and opposition parties fail to reach a final agreement on the communication fee and vaccines, the ruling party is expected to proceed with the sole passage of the 4th supplementary budget bill on the 22nd to keep the promise of providing support before Chuseok.
Opinions also differ regarding the target recipients of the special childcare allowance for children. The government’s plan is to provide 200,000 KRW in cash per child to households with children in elementary school or younger. The budget of 1.1 trillion KRW has been allocated to provide 200,000 KRW each to a total of 5.32 million children, including 2.52 million preschool children and 2.8 million elementary school students.
However, complaints have arisen questioning why middle and high school students were excluded, despite the fact that schools and daycare centers were closed or held remote classes due to COVID-19, which also incurred childcare costs. In response, the People Power Party has proposed expanding the 200,000 KRW childcare allowance support to include 2.9 million middle and high school students.
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