Lee Jae-myung on 88% Disaster Relief Fund: "What Crime Is It to Have Paid a Lot of Taxes to Be Excluded?"

Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province and presidential primary candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Lee Jae-myung, Gyeonggi Province Governor and presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the '88% disaster relief fund.'

On the 23rd, Lee appeared on YTN's "News Night" and said, "What crime is it to have paid a lot of taxes that you have to deliberately exclude?" This remark targeted the policy of providing disaster relief funds to 88% of the population, excluding the top 12% income earners.

Lee emphasized, "There is an old saying that even a single bean is shared in difficult times, so how disappointing would it be? Then people will not want to pay taxes later. The sense of solidarity will be damaged." He added, "Haven't we already experienced this? They said to provide only 90% of the child allowance, excluding the top 10%, but what happened in the end? The cost of selecting the 10% recipients was higher, so it was changed to 100% payment."

He said, "The person who cannot learn from experience is the most lacking," and explained, "This is not about helping the poor but an economic revitalization policy and a kind of consolation for the suffering. Where does this money come from? It is the tax paid more by the top income earners." He continued, "I don't understand why such inefficient, uneconomical, and experience-contradicting strange things are done."

On the same day, the National Assembly approved a supplementary budget of 34.9 trillion won, which provides disaster relief funds of 250,000 won per person to 88% of the population, excluding high-income earners in the top 12%. The eligibility includes single-person households with an annual income of 50 million won or less, dual-income two-person households with 86 million won or less, dual-income four-person households with 124.36 million won or less, and single-income four-person families with 105.32 million won or less.

Additionally, the Hope Recovery Fund for small business owners affected by COVID-19 will increase from a maximum of 9 million won to a maximum of 20 million won. Bus drivers for chartered, intercity, and express buses, as well as taxi drivers, who were previously excluded from support, will also receive 800,000 won. However, the budget for the 'credit card cashback' program targeting high-income earners will be cut to 700 billion won.