Kim Jong-in on Moon's Mention of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups: "Wrong Target... They Don't Have That Capability"

Attendance at the 'Meeting on Measures for Compensation of Losses for Small Business Owners Affected by COVID-19' on the 26th

Kim Jong-in, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] Kim Jong-in, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, criticized President Moon Jae-in's instruction on the COVID-19 loss compensation system, mentioning the Ministry of SMEs and Startups as the main responsible department, saying "the address is wrong."

On the afternoon of the 26th, Kim attended the 'People Power Party COVID-19 Damage Small Business Loss Compensation and Countermeasure Meeting' held at the National Assembly and stated, "With the government's haphazard mistakes, there is no way to solve the various economic problems caused by COVID-19." This was in response to the ruling party mentioning nationwide disaster relief funds, profit-sharing systems, and disaster loss compensation.

Regarding President Moon's instruction to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups the previous day to review the COVID-19 loss compensation system, Kim said, "I think the address is wrong. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is not a department capable of handling such matters," and pointed out, "They say to take measures within the budget, but the Deputy Prime Minister has not said that it can be done within the budget. Then how will they provide disaster relief funds caused by COVID-19 and cover the losses incurred?"

Kim emphasized, "To solve this problem, the president must have a stronger will and properly overcome this situation, which will also help normalize our economy after COVID-19."

Kim also said, "The ruling party seems to think of luring voters with money in line with the April Seoul and Busan by-elections, but regardless of the election, to create an opportunity for the Korean economy to recover, we have no choice but to urge the government to actively solve this problem," adding, "Regardless of personal fault, since the economy has been severely damaged by COVID-19, it is the government's natural duty to take active measures."

At the meeting, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, also said, "The government should prepare countermeasures for quarantine damage with sufficient plans, but instead, it only praises the K-quarantine without doing so," and added, "Only after more than 1,000 cases per day occurred did they issue uniform quarantine guidelines without considering each industry, like a remedy after the fact."

Joo also argued, "The lack of measures and incompetence that shift responsibility to each individual citizen worsened the COVID-19 disaster," and stated, "Since this is a national disaster situation that no one has experienced before, many people must gather to prepare countermeasures."