4th Disaster Relief Fund, Up to 6.5 Million Won for Small Business Owners... Hong Ik-pyo "No Tax Increase Under Consideration"

On the 1st, revealed this on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus'

Hong Ik-pyo, the Policy Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the first meeting of the Post-Corona Inequality Resolution Task Force held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on January 15. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] With the 4th disaster relief fund, small business owners and self-employed individuals are expected to receive up to 6.5 million KRW.

Hong Ik-pyo, Policy Committee Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea, revealed the details of the 4th disaster relief on June 1st during MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' stating, "We have slightly increased the support fund and diversified the categories."

Chairman Hong explained, "For businesses that were continuously banned throughout January this year, we will provide 5 million KRW. Some businesses shifted from a ban to restrictions. Therefore, restricted businesses (converted from banned) will receive 4 million KRW, those continuously restricted will get 3 million KRW, and general businesses with sales decreased by more than 20% will receive 2 million KRW, while regular general businesses will get 1 million KRW."

Additionally, an extra electricity bill support ranging from a minimum of 600,000 KRW to a maximum of 1.5 million KRW will be provided to small business owners and the self-employed.

Regarding criticism such as "Street vendors don't pay taxes, so should they really be supported?" he responded, "The tax debate is a very malicious frame," adding, "Support is not provided because they paid taxes, but rather from a social community perspective to prioritize aid for those most affected and struggling."

According to Chairman Hong, out of the 15 trillion KRW supplementary budget, 9.9 trillion KRW will be raised through government bonds. Combining 2.6 trillion KRW from global surplus funds, 800 billion KRW from the Bank of Korea surplus, and 1.7 trillion KRW from fund resources, a total of 5.1 trillion KRW in available resources can also be secured.

Chairman Hong stated, "Currently, there is no consideration of tax increases related to this supplementary budget."