Need to Secure Available Funds Through Budget Restructuring
Compensation Rate for Losses Expanded from 80% to 100%
[Asia Economy Reporter Junyi Park] Kim Dong-yeon, leader of the New Wave party, proposed a compensation fund of approximately 30 trillion won for losses caused by COVID-19.
On the 20th, Kim held a press conference at the National Assembly and stated, "So far, the major party candidates have claimed support of 50 trillion won or 100 trillion won for loss compensation for self-employed individuals," criticizing it as "populism and claims that do not consider feasibility."
He emphasized that ‘budget restructuring’ must precede securing the funds. Kim explained, "Out of the total 607 trillion won budget in 2022, discretionary spending excluding rigid budget items is about half, approximately 300 trillion won. If 10% of discretionary spending is restructured, it is possible to secure around 30 trillion won." He suggested social overhead capital (SOC) and constituency lawmaker budgets as targets for restructuring. He also added that if funds are insufficient, supplementary budgets would be necessary.
He further stressed that to expedite the disbursement of loss compensation, it should be done through a ‘pre-support followed by settlement’ method. He also advocated expanding the current compensation rate, which is 80% of the damage amount, to 100%.
Kim, who founded the New Wave central party the day before, proposed a roundtable meeting where the president and presidential candidates could jointly seek ways to overcome the COVID-19 crisis. On this day, he said, "The purpose is to discuss the crisis response measures that candidates are competitively presenting, create a unified plan, and execute it as quickly as possible," and also suggested a three-party meeting with candidates from the two major parties.
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