hankyoreh

Leaders of the Democratic Party partake in a campaign rally in Busan on Apr. 6. Bottom photo: Leaders of the United Future Party and the Future Korea Party at a campaign rally in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo District on Apr. 6. (Yonhap News)

While South Korea’s Democratic Party had been planning to give 1 million won (US$817, assuming a family of four) in basic disaster allowance to families in the lower 70% income bracket, the party now intends to push for extending that aid to all families. The ruling party has promised to give the aid to everyone in the country after Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the opposition United Future Party, suggesting giving 500,000 won (US$408) to every citizen, pushing the debate about providing economic relief for the COVID-19 pandemic in a new direction.

“In our emergency aid policy, it’s important to clearly demonstrate that the state is protecting all citizens, regardless of their region, income or class. After the parliamentary elections are over, we promise to conduct a thorough review of every question as we devise our policy,” said Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party, during a meeting of the election action committee, held in Busan, on the morning of Apr. 6.

“We’re leaning toward providing financial aid to all Koreans, with a family of four receiving 1 million won,” said Cho Jeong-sik, chairman of the Democratic Party’s policy committee, in a telephone call with the Hankyoreh. That would preserve the amount of aid in the government’s original plan (1 million won for a four-person household) while broadening eligibility for the aid.

The Democratic Party estimates that a total of 13 trillion won (US$10.62 billion) in funding will be necessary to expand the scope of aid. That’s 3.9 trillion won (US$3.18 billion) more than the government’s current plan, which is slated to cost 9.1 trillion won (US$7.43 billion).

Kim Jong-in (fourth left), head of the United Future Party's general election committee and Won Yoo-chul (fourth right), leader of the Future Korea Party, at an election countermeasures meeting in Seoul on Apr. 6. (Yonhap News)

In a public press conference on Apr. 5, Hwang called on the president to exercise his emergency fiscal authority to have banks provide 500,000 won to all Korean citizens in the next week. He said that the 25 trillion won (US$20.42 billion) required could be raised by adjusting the government’s 512 trillion won (US$418.12 billion) budget for 2020.

“The emergency disaster allowance that the government has chosen based on health insurance premiums can’t be immediately paid in cash, and the payment method is creating confusion and dissatisfaction in the public,” Hwang said during the press conference, proposing that the aid be paid in cash, rather than in gift certificates or prepaid cards.

While the ruling and opposition parties had been locking horns over the disaster allowance policy, they’re now speaking in unison about providing allowances to all citizens, likely out of concern that focusing on selective aid could have a negative impact on public opinion with the parliamentary elections just days away. The United Future Party had slammed the idea of basic disaster allowances, which would benefit everyone, as “helicopter money” and “buying votes.” But once the main opposition party reversed its position, the ruling party followed suit, driven by fear that the public could sour on its disaster relief policy.

“There had been continuing calls inside the party to provide aid to all citizens and the party had been reviewing the idea [even before Hwang’s remarks]. We’d been worried about [the feasibility of a] supplementary budget, given the necessity of cooperation from the opposition party, but the fact is that Hwang’s remarks have made [an agreement] more likely,” said Kang Hun-sik, senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party.

A senior official with the Ministry of Economy and Finance offered the following response to the ruling and opposition parties’ new stance. “For now, our priority is to finalize the specific standards for paying disaster allowances to the bottom 70%, as decided in the emergency economic meeting, as quickly as possible and to submit a supplementary budget bill containing the funding measures to the National Assembly. If we’re asked to expand aid eligibility while the bill is being debated after the parliamentary elections, the question of raising more funds can be discussed at that time.”

By Lee Ji-hye, Seo Young-ji, and Noh Hyun-woong, staff reporters

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]