Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting on Urgent Issues
Aiming for National Assembly Approval in April...
Calls for Bipartisan Cooperation
The government officially announced on the 30th that it will proceed with a supplementary budget (supplementary budget). Along with the 'wildfire supplementary budget' to restore damages caused by the wildfire in the Yeongnam region, the aim is to promptly respond to domestic and international adversities such as trade risks from the U.S. and sluggish domestic demand. This is the first time the budget authorities have officially announced the push amid supplementary budget controversies.
Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance, stated at the 'Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting' held at the Government Seoul Office in the afternoon, "The government intends to promote a 10 trillion won scale 'essential supplementary budget' that includes only projects that can be executed swiftly to resolve urgent current issues."
The main areas for the supplementary budget include ▲ disaster and accident response ▲ strengthening competitiveness in trade and artificial intelligence (AI) ▲ and support for people's livelihoods. These are items with little disagreement between the ruling and opposition parties.
First, Deputy Prime Minister Choi explained regarding the recent wildfire damage, "The wildfire caused damage to approximately 48,000 hectares of forest and resulted in 75 casualties, marking the largest scale of damage in history," adding, "Swift and systematic response and support are essential for the rapid return of affected residents to their daily lives."
He continued, "Externally, trade risks such as tariff impositions by the new U.S. administration are materializing, threatening the survival of key industries, while competition for leadership in advanced industries like AI is intensifying," expressing concern that "with sluggish domestic demand and overlapping export slowdowns, difficulties in the livelihoods of vulnerable groups such as ordinary citizens and small business owners are worsening."
Deputy Prime Minister Choi emphasized, "To overcome this crisis, the nation must mobilize all available capabilities," and added, "Beyond maximizing the use of existing available resources, rapid additional fiscal investment must be made."
However, he did not specify the detailed breakdown of the 10 trillion won essential supplementary budget. This appears to be related to the current standoff between the ruling and opposition parties. The People Power Party is focusing on 'increasing the reserve fund by 2 trillion won,' while the Democratic Party intends to cover not only wildfire recovery but also a consumption stimulation package including consumption coupons.
Considering this, he repeatedly urged bipartisan cooperation for the prompt formulation of the supplementary budget. Deputy Prime Minister Choi said, "Given the urgency of overcoming wildfire damage, the people's livelihood crisis, and external issues, it is very important that the 'essential supplementary budget' is promoted quickly," adding, "If the ruling and opposition parties agree on the purpose of the essential supplementary budget, the government will promptly proceed with consultations with related ministries to formulate and submit the supplementary budget proposal."
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