The presidential office, government and ruling Democratic Party(DP) welcomed emergency financial support by some local governments amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the initiatives could serve as a trial for the central government.

Following a tripartite meeting on Wednesday, Lee Nak-yon, the head of the DP's COVID-19 response committee, said he expects more discussions to take place on Thursday during an emergency economic meeting led by President Moon Jae-in.

Lee said while no specific time frame was discussed, the government suggested local municipalities initially lend financial support, such as disaster-related basic income. The central government will then supplement costs through a secondary extra budget.

During the meeting, the DP urged the government to consider drawing up an additional virus budget plan, on top of the eleven-point-seven-trillion-won budget that was approved by the National Assembly this week.

DP floor leader Lee In-young assessed that the current economic situation appears to be as serious as the combined damage from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2015 MERS outbreak.

The floor leader then vowed to come up with all available market stabilization measures in close consultation with financial authorities.