[President Yoon's National Agenda] Ahn Cheol-soo: "Specific Plan for COVID-19 Loss Compensation to Be Announced by Ministry of Economy and Finance"

Briefing on National Tasks Held on the 3rd at Transition Team Office in Tongui-dong

Ahn Cheol-soo, Chairman of the 20th Presidential Transition Committee, is announcing the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's 110 national tasks at the transition office in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 3rd. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] The Yoon Seok-yeol administration's specific plan for compensating losses of self-employed and small business owners due to COVID-19 is expected to be announced later by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

On the 3rd, Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the Presidential Transition Committee, after briefing on national tasks at the transition office in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, told reporters in response to a question about "complete recovery and leap from COVID-19, and full compensation for losses, when will the 10 million won payment be made?" that "The Ministry of Economy and Finance will re-examine whether it is realistically feasible and create an executable plan. The Ministry of Economy and Finance will announce the specific relief measures."

Previously, controversy arose over the COVID-19 small business damage compensation guidelines announced by the transition committee, with accusations of breaking campaign promises. In response, Chairman Ahn said, "There seem to be some misunderstandings regarding compensation for losses of small business owners and self-employed individuals. Three entities are working together on this: the COVID-19 Emergency Response Special Committee, the Economic Division 1 responsible for macroeconomics, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance."

He continued, "The COVID-19 Special Committee used official data from five ministries to accurately assess the extent of losses suffered by small business owners and self-employed individuals over the past two years, based on profit rather than sales. We calculated the figure of 53 trillion won for the first time in Korean history. Our role ends there," he explained.

He added, "That figure was passed on to Economic Division 1, which handles macroeconomics. There are various support methods such as cash compensation, tax benefits, and loans. Their role is to consider ways to ensure these individuals survive properly while minimizing the impact on the macroeconomy, and they organized and compiled these measures," he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Chairman Ahn said, "The three parties discussed and ultimately agreed that the COVID-19 Special Committee would announce the total loss amount, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance would announce the specific relief measures. This principle was established. Because of this, some inaccurate information about the amount surfaced during the process," he said.