Yoon Seok-yeol on "14 Trillion Supplementary Budget": "It Must Be Larger Than 3 Million Won... Will Negotiate Immediately with the Democratic Party"

Proposal for Supplementary Budget Negotiations to the Democratic Party
Kim Geon-hee's Recording States "Nothing to Mention"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Changwon= Reporter Park Jun-yi] In response to the government's announcement of a 14 trillion won supplementary budget plan before the Lunar New Year holiday, Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, criticized it as a "populist budget ahead of the election" and immediately proposed that the ruling party engage in supplementary budget negotiations. He emphasized that the support amount should be increased beyond 3 million won per person so that small business owners and self-employed individuals can receive more sufficient assistance.

After attending the Gyeongnam Election Countermeasures Committee Victory Resolution Rally held at the Changwon Convention Center in Gyeongnam on the 14th, Candidate Yoon told reporters, "If the supplementary budget is like this, I would propose it from the start," adding, "The Democratic Party should immediately engage in supplementary budget negotiations with our People Power Party to create a plan that properly compensates our self-employed and small business owners for their damages."

He continued, "If the Democratic Party requests the administration to submit the supplementary budget plan created in this way, it should be promptly passed through bipartisan consultation in the National Assembly so that sufficient compensation can be swiftly executed for the people and the affected small business owners and self-employed individuals."

When asked about the scale of the supplementary budget execution, Candidate Yoon said, "The two parties should discuss it," but added, "Providing 3 million won per self-employed person is absurd; it should be a much larger amount."

He further explained, "If I take office as the next government, I have pledged to mobilize and spend at least 50 trillion won in finances within the first 100 days. If it is going to be done this way anyway, the ruling and opposition parties should immediately negotiate, send the supplementary budget plan to the government, and once the government submits it to the National Assembly, the issue will be resolved promptly." He added, "I believe sufficient support should be provided within the 50 trillion won range, depending on the extent of the damage."

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki announced the supplementary budget plan during a joint government briefing on extending quarantine measures and supporting small business owners at the Government Seoul Office. The plan is to provide an additional 3 million won in quarantine support funds to small business owners whose sales have declined due to the extension of high-intensity social distancing measures. To this end, a supplementary budget of about 14 trillion won will be prepared before the Lunar New Year holiday. The compensation fund for small business owners will increase from the existing 3.2 trillion won to 5.1 trillion won.

Meanwhile, regarding a media outlet's plan to release a 7-hour recorded phone conversation of Yoon's spouse, Kim Geon-hee, Candidate Yoon dismissed it, saying, "I think there is nothing for me to comment on now." The decision on whether to disclose the report is expected to be made by the court later that afternoon.