Lee Nak-yeon: "The 4th Disaster Relief Fund Will Bring Quite Surprising Changes"

"Expected to Exceed 20 Trillion Won... Larger Scale Than Last Year's Support Fund"

Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is answering questions from participants at the 'Small Business Owners Online and Offline Dialogue' held on the 27th at the Gimhae Small and Medium Business Business Center conference room in Gimhae, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 27th regarding the 4th disaster relief fund, "The party-government consultation on the emergency disaster relief fund will be concluded tomorrow," adding, "There will be quite surprising changes in the support targets and scale."

On the afternoon of the same day, Lee attended the 'Small Business Online and Offline Dialogue' hosted by Gyeongnam Daily at the Gimhae Small and Medium Business Center, saying, "The scale of the 4th disaster relief fund might exceed 20 trillion won." He also explained that the supplementary budget bill for the disaster relief fund will be finalized at the party-government consultation on the 28th, then go through the Cabinet meeting early next week before being submitted to the National Assembly.

He projected that combining the supplementary budget of about 15 trillion won with the already approved budget (by the legislature) of around 4 trillion won would total just under 20 trillion won, but it is expected to increase during the National Assembly's review process and exceed 20 trillion won. Furthermore, he emphasized that this support fund is larger in scale than last year's family support fund (13 trillion won) provided to all citizens and the 3rd support fund (9.3 trillion won).

Regarding the expansion of support targets, Lee explained, "This time, 40,000 street vendors nationwide, who had been excluded from previous support, as well as those in special employment types or the culture and arts sectors, are included in the support targets," adding that eight additional industries are included. He further stated, "I strongly insisted that street vendors without business registration, who had been excluded from support until now, should be included because excluding them was wrong."

Meanwhile, concerning the establishment of the Southeast Mega City, Lee emphasized, "Yesterday, the National Assembly passed the special law for the Gadeokdo New Airport, and this will serve as a catalyst for the full-scale development of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Mega City," adding, "Gyeongnam, Busan, and Ulsan will be connected like 'one city.'"