As a forest fire that occurred in Uiseong, Gyeongbuk, spreads northeast, the Democratic Party said on the 27th that it plans to pursue the establishment of a supplementary budget to respond to the forest fire and for damage recovery. However, the People Power Party stated that the 'restoration of 2 trillion won in contingency funds' claimed for the purpose of responding to the forest fire is unnecessary, as budget from the relevant ministries is sufficient.

Jinsung Jun, the chair of the Democratic Party's policy committee, is speaking at the National Assembly countermeasure meeting held on the morning of the 25th at the Democratic Party's tent office near Gyeongbokgung in Seoul. On the left is Park Chan-dae, the floor leader. /Courtesy of News1

Jin Sung-jun, chair of the Democratic Party's policy committee, noted at a party policy coordination meeting held at the Gwanghwamun tent headquarters on this day, "Both the ruling and opposition parties have asked the government for a prompt supplementary budget and are speaking in one voice," adding, "Yet, the Ministry of Economy and Finance is not even conducting consultations by department." He also said, "As human life and property damage are gradually increasing, a responsible government should first step forward and present the supplementary budget proposal."

Regarding the response to the forest fire, the People Power Party's stance is to restore the 2 trillion won in contingency funds that the Democratic Party cut during the budget review at the end of last year and include it in the supplementary budget. In response, Chairman Jin said, "Already, 360 billion won is allocated for disaster management in the Ministry of Interior and Safety, and 100 billion won for disaster countermeasures in the Korea Forest Service," adding, "If the budget from the relevant ministries is insufficient, we can execute from the 1.6 trillion won in purpose contingency funds, and can utilize 1.5 trillion won from debts from national treasury for disaster countermeasures."

Chairman Jin stated, "The People Power Party is threatening to restore 2 trillion won in contingency funds under the pretext of the forest fire," questioning, "Are they trying to secure a budget for civil turmoil, similar to what Yoon Seok-youl directed to the then Minister of Economy during the night of the insurrection?"

Earlier, the Democratic Party had allocated 900 billion won under the name of 'national safety budget' in its own supplementary budget proposal announced in February. Chairman Jin said, "Since the budget also includes fire-fighting helicopters and forest fire response equipment, discussions on the supplementary budget should begin now," and urged, "Also actively consider budgets for livelihood recovery, consumer coupons, and local currency discount support."