Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said on the 28th, 'We will push to support 250,000 won to 500,000 won per person in prepaid cards for basic living recipients and the near poor.' This came after the Democratic Party included '25,000 won for all citizens consumer recovery coupon,' a key pledge of its leader Lee Jae-myung, in its own supplementary budget proposal, which suggested a selective support in place of it.
On that day, Kweon, the floor leader, stated at the party's internal countermeasure meeting, 'If we have to prepare a supplementary budget, we will prepare a genuine consumer recovery budget.' He referred to the Democratic Party's universal support consumer coupon as 'a vote-buying act that Lee Jae-myung is handing out,' and noted, 'However, direct support for basic living recipients and the near poor is different.'
He added, 'The financial support given to these individuals leads to consumption and significantly aids in improving living conditions,' stating, 'Reinforcing the consumption capacity of the most vulnerable is, after all, a true economic policy and welfare policy.'
As the possibility of a snap election increases, the competition for 'cash support' between the ruling and opposition parties has intensified. The People Power Party had also announced on the 24th that it would provide a voucher of 1,000,000 won per person to about 7 million small business owners. This includes support for utility bills such as electricity, gas, and water.
Earlier, on the 13th of this month, the Democratic Party announced a supplementary budget plan of 35 trillion won, including 15 trillion won for 'consumer recovery coupons.' The coupon budget accounts for 43% of the total. All citizens will receive local currency worth 25,000 won, with a additional 100,000 won given to vulnerable groups. The fiscal resources will use unspent budgets by the government, but any shortage can be covered by issuing deficit bonds.