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Ruling Party Proposes "Year-End Income Deduction Support of 1 Million Won"... Budget Increase to Prevent 'Itaewon Tragedy'

2023 Budget Review Direction
Focus on Supporting Livelihoods and Socially Vulnerable Groups

Increased Budget for Expanding Social Safety Nets Including Prevention of Itaewon Disaster Recurrence

Ruling Party Proposes "Year-End Income Deduction Support of 1 Million Won"... Budget Increase to Prevent 'Itaewon Tragedy' Sung Il-jong, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, is delivering opening remarks at the 'Comprehensive Measures for Narcotics Control' party-government consultation held at the National Assembly on the 26th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunju Lee and Hyunji Kwon] The People Power Party announced that it will support 1 million KRW per household through year-end income deductions and increase the related budget for next year by 766.7 billion KRW. This is in line with the policy to review the budget with a focus on alleviating the burden on people's livelihoods and supporting socially vulnerable groups. The budget for establishing national and social safety nets to prevent the recurrence of safety accidents, such as the Itaewon Halloween disaster, will also be reflected by confirming specific projects.

On the 8th, Seong Il-jong, chairman of the Policy Committee, held a press conference at the National Assembly and announced the direction for reviewing the 2023 budget bill based on these points.


The People Power Party's budget review emphasized increasing the budget for social welfare sectors for the public and vulnerable groups even within a sound fiscal policy framework. Chairman Seong said, "The total budget for social welfare sectors for the public and vulnerable groups under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has increased by 10.9 trillion KRW compared to this year," adding, "We will review next year's budget from the perspective of people's livelihoods, vulnerable groups, and the future." He also added, "We will do our best to actively reflect the Democratic Party's reasonable livelihood budget as well."


Specifically, the budget for supporting the use of public transportation by low-income people will be increased by 11.9 billion KRW, and an additional 10.1 billion KRW will be allocated to expand double-decker electric buses. Furthermore, 252.2 billion KRW has been allocated to support financially vulnerable groups in the high-interest rate era, with plans to significantly raise the eligibility for the refinancing loan from 400 million KRW to 900 million KRW. Along with this, 234.2 billion KRW will be reflected to expand the loan limit by up to 500 million KRW, and for about 30,000 marginal small business owners suffering from high interest rates, a new interest rate difference of 1-2% will be applied within a market loan limit of 30 million KRW.


The ruling party plans to increase the budget by 12.3 billion KRW to strengthen investigations and victim support for the four major livelihood crimes: drugs, voice phishing, stalking, and jeonse fraud. They also plan to increase the budget to support socially vulnerable groups, including the disabled and severely ill patients. Lee Cheol-gyu, the ruling party whip of the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee who attended the event, said, "We will provide a total of 34.5 billion KRW to establish regional specialized institutions for rare diseases and new specialized nursing hospitals for rare incurable diseases such as Lou Gehrig's disease." Additionally, 4.6 billion KRW will be invested in 200 call taxis to guarantee mobility rights for the disabled, and the budget will be increased by 21.4 billion KRW to support 1,000 more severely disabled workers.


Ruling Party Proposes "Year-End Income Deduction Support of 1 Million Won"... Budget Increase to Prevent 'Itaewon Tragedy' Lee Cheol-gyu, the budget committee secretary of the People Power Party, is attending and speaking at the '2023 Budget Proposal Debate' held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Regarding the senior job program, which the opposition party has raised issues about being drastically reduced, it was announced that the total number of jobs will increase by 29,000 compared to this year. Representative Lee said, "The Democratic Party made people anxious by claiming that senior jobs decreased by 51,000, but that is completely wrong," explaining, "The budget for giving handouts to the elderly was reduced, and jobs paying 600,000 KRW and 1 million KRW were significantly increased, resulting in a budget increase of 79 billion KRW and more jobs. The statistics were distorted."


Regarding the recent Itaewon disaster, the budget for expanding the social safety net is also expected to increase. Chairman Seong said, "It will not take long to identify the cause, and we will prepare a budget to strengthen the response," adding, "Even after the comprehensive questioning ends, it will be reflected during the process of adjusting the figures. There is an adjusted budget that was reduced by each standing committee, and we will adjust that budget to increase it," specifying the plan.


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