Kwon "No Legal Basis for Loss Compensation Act Passed by Democratic Party Government"
Park "President Yoon Seok-yeol and Ruling Party Regret Ignoring People's Livelihood"
Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok, Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Hong-geun, People Power Party Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong, and Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Choo Kyung-ho are taking a commemorative photo at a meeting related to the supplementary budget bill held in the Speaker's office on the 29th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] On the 29th, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to pass the 2nd supplementary budget bill, which includes compensation for losses due to COVID-19 for small business owners and self-employed individuals, but a tense exchange occurred between the floor leaders.
Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at a press conference that Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's general election campaign committee chairman and candidate for the National Assembly from Incheon Gyeyang-eul, along with Song Young-gil, candidate for Seoul mayor, Kim Dong-yeon, candidate for Gyeonggi Province governor, and Park Nam-chun, candidate for Incheon mayor, issued a statement urging the swift passage of the supplementary budget. He said, "It seems as if the supplementary budget for small business owners is being processed according to the Democratic Party's demands, which appears to be an attempt to gain electoral advantage through the budget," adding, "It is regrettable that it was delayed until Sunday when it should have been processed on Friday."
Regarding the exclusion of retroactive application of loss compensation, Floor Leader Kwon attributed significant responsibility to the Democratic Party. He stated, "Retroactive application was not possible because there is no legal basis for retroactive application in the loss compensation law passed by the Democratic Party government," and "Although retroactive application was legally impossible, we consider that the 2.3 trillion won in loss compensation includes the retroactive amount." He continued, "Among the self-employed who suffered losses, some may find the compensation insufficient even if they receive between 6 million and 10 million won due to the lack of retroactive application. We regret that, but we judged that 'prompt payment' was more important and made the decision accordingly," asking for understanding.
On the other hand, Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at a press conference, "The government and ruling party, which bear unlimited responsibility for people's livelihoods, have blocked the path to full loss compensation themselves," and expressed "deep regret once again at President Yoon Seok-yeol and the government and ruling party's neglect of people's livelihoods, focusing only on politically motivated supplementary budgets for local elections."
He added, "Although it is regrettable and insufficient, we will proceed with 'prior processing and subsequent supplementation' regarding this supplementary budget," emphasizing, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration has broken its promises, but we will not give up. Since the ruling and opposition parties and the government have agreed to continue discussions on revising the loss compensation law, we will do our best."
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