The ruling Democratic Party(DP) vowed to complete the government's third round of COVID-19 relief payments before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.

At a Supreme Council meeting on Monday, DP floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon pledged to see next year's government budget pass the National Assembly by its legal deadline on Wednesday.

Kim added that the customized relief program will be included in the budget to be enforced before the Lunar New Year.

The ruling party plans to target small business owners and the self-employed, who have been hardest hit by enhanced social distancing, as recipients of the government aid.

Amid a third wave of the epidemic, the government has implemented Level Two distancing in the Seoul metropolitan area and Level One-point-Five elsewhere.