Lee's Statement on 4.87 Trillion Won Contingency Fund
Kim Sanghoon Issues Detailed Rebuttal
"Democratic Party Halved It to 2.4 Trillion Won"
Contingency Fund and Budget Allocation/Execution Cited
Currently, 600 Billion Won Immediately Usable... Full Amount to Be Deployed
"2 Trillion Won to Be Secured via Supplementary Budget for Future Disaster Response"
On the 28th, the People Power Party fiercely criticized Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who stated regarding the large-scale wildfire disaster in the Yeongnam region, "There is sufficient budget, but the government's will and capability are lacking," saying, "He is deceiving the public with bogus numbers without fact-checking to evade responsibility for the outrageous cut in the main budget's contingency funds."
Kim Sang-hoon, chairman of the People Power Party's Policy Committee, issued a statement on the 28th pointing out this issue, adding, "The national budget should be used according to principles and standards, not recklessly like petty cash. We express regret over Leader Lee's slapdash and shortsighted attitude toward the national budget."
Earlier, before the 10th West Sea Defense Day commemorative ceremony held in Daejeon, Lee said at the Supreme Council meeting, "Even at the sites where many people are suffering serious damage and despair, the People Power Party is engaging in political strife. They are even recklessly committing acts of deceiving the people." He questioned, "There is already a total of 4.87 trillion won in national contingency funds available for wildfire countermeasures. What budget shortage are they talking about? Have they spent even a single won from the 4.87 trillion won contingency fund?"
Chairman Kim refuted point by point the claim that the 4.87 trillion won contingency fund mentioned by Lee was immediately available, calling it false. First, he noted, "The contingency fund in the 2025 main budget was initially proposed by the government at 4.8 trillion won, but the Democratic Party unilaterally cut 2.4 trillion won, so only 2.4 trillion won was allocated."
He continued, "Among the allocated contingency funds, excluding 800 billion won for economic crisis response and national security and public safety maintenance general contingency funds, 1.6 trillion won was allocated as purpose-specific contingency funds for disasters and calamities," adding, "however, of the 1.6 trillion won purpose-specific contingency funds, about 1.2 trillion won was unilaterally earmarked by the Democratic Party for expenses such as free high school education, so the actually immediately usable purpose-specific contingency fund is about 400 billion won."
Regarding the claim that 970 billion won in disaster and calamity funds remain in each ministry, he criticized, "They spread false information to the public without proper verification. The total disaster and calamity funds in each ministry amount to 927 billion won, not 970 billion won, and among these, only 199.8 billion won is immediately available."
Of the 972 billion won, 417 billion won is for restoration costs related to disasters that occurred last year, and among the 510 billion won of pure execution budget this year, 185 billion won is allocated for drought and typhoon preparedness by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Also, of the 100 billion won budget for the Korea Forest Service, 78.6 billion won has already been spent on pine wilt disease control, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Environment have already spent 46.6 billion won this year. Excluding these, the immediately usable budget is 199.8 billion won, according to Chairman Kim.
Additionally, Chairman Kim pointed out that the 1.5 trillion won national treasury debt burden budget can only be used for facility restoration and cannot be utilized for compensations or living expenses for affected residents. The national treasury debt burden act refers to credit transactions rather than immediate payments, typically used for credit construction projects, indicating limitations in handling wildfire damage support.
Chairman Kim emphasized, "Even if we restore wildfire damage with the approximately 600 billion won available within the main budget (about 400 billion won contingency funds + 199.8 billion won disaster and calamity funds in each ministry), we need to prepare for unexpected disasters such as this summer's monsoon or typhoons," adding, "If additional damage occurs, rapid response and restoration may be difficult, so sufficient financial preparedness must be established in advance."
He continued, "We will immediately execute about 600 billion won, including the currently immediately usable 199.8 billion won disaster and calamity funds in each ministry and 400 billion won contingency funds, to support wildfire damage in the Yeongnam region," and stressed, "Furthermore, the 2 trillion won contingency funds secured through supplementary budgets will be meticulously prepared to respond promptly not only to this wildfire damage but also to any potential disasters."
Besides Chairman Kim, People Power Party figures such as Song Eon-seok, chairman of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee, and Lee Yang-su, secretary-general of the People Power Party, also launched fierce attacks on Leader Lee. Chairman Song stated in a press release, "They are staging another public deception, claiming that disaster response funds are sufficient," and accused, "They are distorting the truth to cover up their mistakes."
Secretary-General Lee also pointed out on Facebook, "It was the Democratic Party that cut 1 trillion won from the purpose-specific contingency funds for disaster and calamity," adding, "Instead of apologizing for causing disruptions in support due to budget cuts for disaster preparedness, the Democratic Party is solely focused on street protests, even opposing the supplementary budget for disaster contingency funds proposed by our People Power Party."
Chief spokesperson Shin Dong-wook said in a commentary that day, "This wildfire involves many variables and all possibilities must be considered, yet the Democratic Party insists on not agreeing to the 'disaster contingency supplementary budget,'" and claimed, "Instead of apologizing to the public and actively cooperating in forming the disaster contingency supplementary budget, the Democratic Party's floor leadership is misleading the public as if overcoming the disaster is impossible without the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as Constitutional Court justice, thereby inciting political strife."
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