People Power Party "Supplementary Budget This Year Through Expenditure Restructuring... 10 Million Won Support Fund for Small Business Owners"

Compensation Rate Increased from 80% to 100%
Minimum Amount Raised from 500,000 KRW to 1,000,000 KRW

Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, is holding an emergency meeting with Ahn Do-gul, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, on the 19th at the National Assembly regarding the preparation of the supplementary budget bill. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] On the 19th, the People Power Party's floor leadership met with Ando-geol, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, at the National Assembly to deliver demands related to the supplementary budget (Chugyeong). The Democratic Party and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance are currently reviewing the supplementary budget, and the demands were made with the intention of having them reflected.

Looking into the detailed demands directly delivered by Kim Ki-hyun, the People Power Party floor leader, to Vice Minister And on that day, they include ▲10 million KRW support fund for small business owners to overcome COVID-19 ▲100% minimum compensation for losses with a floor amount of 1 million KRW ▲support for blind spots such as culture, sports, and tourism industries ▲promotion of retroactive application ▲ultra-low interest financial support ▲reduction of electricity bills for small business owners ▲increase in support unit price for quarantine personnel and reflection of one year's worth, among others.

The 10 million KRW COVID-19 support fund is an amount that adds 3 million KRW from the government to the existing 1 million KRW, plus an additional 6 million KRW from the People Power Party. Floor leader Kim explained, "The loss compensation rate should be raised from the current 80% to 100%, and the minimum amount should be expanded from 500,000 KRW to 1 million KRW," adding, "Industries that have been excluded from loss compensation so far should also be compensated." Regarding electricity bills, although there is currently no reduction, a 50% reduction for three months should be implemented.

The People Power Party, which was previously negative about the supplementary budget, proposed an expanded supplementary budget to avoid criticism of being passive in supporting small business owners and to hold the ruling party responsible if the supplementary budget, which was not increased due to party-government conflicts, passes. Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, had earlier pledged 50 trillion KRW in support for small business owners' loss compensation.

Regarding the funding plan, it was emphasized that this year's budget of 608 trillion KRW must be restructured through expenditure restructuring. After the press conference, Chugyeong-ho, the People Power Party's senior deputy floor leader, told reporters, "I think the Democratic Party is ultimately considering raising all additional funds through debt, that is, through additional deficit bond issuance," adding, "Since that would entirely become debt for our young generation, we are demanding that the existing 608 trillion KRW be restructured as much as possible to implement livelihood support measures for small business owners and others."