As an enormous forest fire spreads uncontrollably in the Yeongnam region, the government's financial capacity to support disaster relief efforts, such as wildfire damages this year, is tight. This is because unexpected incidents, like the Jeju Air disaster in Muan, occurred following the opposition's reduction of the government-proposed contingency fund to pass the budget at the end of last year.
A larger issue is that the human and material damages from this wildfire crisis are manifesting at levels several times greater than those experienced during the second-largest wildfire incident in 2022. While the need for a supplementary budget has been raised, negotiations are expected to be challenging due to the confrontations between the ruling and opposition parties.
According to the government on the 26th, the budget available for disaster response this year, such as for wildfires, exceeds approximately 600 billion won. The Korea Forest Service has a budget of 100 billion won, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has 116.8 billion won, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance holds about 400 billion won.
This year, the disaster management budget for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety was set at 360 billion won, but 243.2 billion won has already been spent to support incidents like the Jeju Air disaster that occurred on December 29 of last year. The government has stated it will prioritize utilizing the budgets from the Korea Forest Service and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, but if greater recovery costs are needed, it plans to draw from the contingency fund.
This year's contingency fund was set at 2.4 trillion won, reduced by 50% from the government's original proposal. Of that, the 'designated contingency fund' available for disaster and disaster response is 1.6 trillion won, down by about 1 trillion won from the proposal. According to the additional conditions set by the Democratic Party, priority was given to designated contingency funds for free high school education and free education for 5-year-olds, making about 400 billion won available for disaster response.
A Ministry of Economy and Finance official noted, "The designated contingency fund is also used for organizational restructuring and other purposes," and explained that, although the fund has been used in small amounts up to now, it has not been used significantly, exceeding 100 billion won.
The general contingency fund, which was reduced by 1.4 trillion won and set at 800 billion won, can also be used partially for disaster response, but the Ministry of Economy and Finance explained that there is not much capacity since this budget is mainly used for security-related purposes.
The current wildfire started on the 21st in areas such as Sangcheong and Uiseong in Gyeongsang Province, quickly spreading to nearby regions, exacerbating the damage. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, as of 9 a.m. on that day, the area affected by the wildfire reached 17,534 hectares. The damaged area, which was about 14,695 hectares as of 9 a.m. the previous day, increased by approximately 2,000 hectares in just one day.
A large-scale wildfire also occurred in Gyeongbuk and Gangwon in March 2022. The area damaged by the wildfire was 20,523 hectares, making it the second-largest after the Donghae wildfire in 2000, which was 23,794 hectares. At that time, the government spent 417 billion won on recovery costs.
The problem is that while the area burned in the recent wildfire is less than in 2022, the human and material damages are considerably greater. The current wildfire has resulted in 18 fatalities and 27,079 displaced individuals, with 209 places including dwellings, factories, temples, and cultural heritage sites affected.
In 2022, there were no casualties, 587 individuals were displaced, and 59 buildings, including factories, were affected. The situation necessitates a larger recovery cost than in 2022, yet the available funds amount to only 600 billion won. Considering potential disasters that may arise in the remaining period of this year, budget authorities find this amount grossly insufficient.
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters stated that a precise assessment of the damage and recovery costs can only begin after the firefighting operations are completed.
The People Power Party noted the previous day, "We will promptly hold a high-level government-party council and seriously begin discussions on the supplementary budget," adding, "We will include the 2 trillion won of disaster response contingency funds reduced by the Democratic Party last year in this supplementary budget to restore the national safety net." However, the Democratic Party countered that "after we prevented the contingency funds from being used haphazardly like pocket money, the ruling party is now making two false claims related to the spread of this wildfire."
A normal session of the government-opposition council must convene for the contingency funds to be included in the supplementary budget, but even that is uncertain. A government official stated, "The supplementary budget can only proceed if an agreement is reached at a national policy council meeting between the ruling and opposition parties, but currently, it is unpredictable when such a council will convene."