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S. Korean Parliament Passes 2nd Extra Budget to Finance COVID-19 Relief

Written: 2020-04-30 11:42:04Updated: 2020-04-30 13:44:26

S. Korean Parliament Passes 2nd Extra Budget to Finance COVID-19 Relief

Photo : YONHAP News

South Korea's National Assembly on Thursday passed the government's 12-point-two trillion won second supplementary budget bill to finance the government's coronavirus relief payments.

In a delayed vote minutes before 1:00 a.m., 185 of 206 lawmakers cast their ballots for the bill. Six voted against it and 15 abstained.

With the bill now approved, the government is expected to speed up the process of making payments to 21-point-71 million households starting May 13.

Four-person households are eligible for one million won, three-person households for 800-thousand won, two-person households for 600-thousand won, and single-person households for 400-thousand won.

The rival parties had disagreed on whether to expand eligibility for the relief from the government's initial proposal of 70 percent of households.

The ruling Democratic Party(DP) and the government later suggested covering all households, while encouraging high-income earners to donate the money in return for tax credit.

The parliament also passed a separate bill on handling the donated money, authorizing the labor minister to collect the donations and turn them into revenue for the employment insurance fund.

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