Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said Wednesday that the government is "preparing a jeonse fraud victim support fund program to guarantee minimum damage recovery for jeonse fraud victims," adding that "we will finalize the project plan at today's Cabinet meeting and include it immediately in the current supplementary budget."
Kim made the remarks while presiding over an extraordinary Cabinet meeting at the Government Complex Seoul. "It is the state's rightful duty to comfort jeonse fraud victims and help them restore their daily lives," he said.
The Cabinet meeting also approved guidelines for compiling next year's budget. "The government will compile next year's budget with a focus on future investment for a major shift in national growth strategy under an active fiscal management stance," Kim said.
Kim stressed that the government would "fully support region-led growth, including fostering the '5 poles, 3 special zones' growth engines, and push ahead without delay on the bold fiscal support promised to integrated local governments." He added, "We will significantly expand public participation in the budget compilation process and transparently disclose as much information as possible to innovate fiscal management in a demand-driven manner."
Addressing the National Assembly, Kim said, "A considerable number of urgent livelihood and economic bills, including the Regional Investment Promotion Act and the Stalking Crime Punishment Act, remain pending. Considering the local election schedule, mid-April is effectively the deadline for processing these bills." He urged lawmakers to "actively cooperate on passing the bills regardless of party lines."
Regarding the leadership vacuum in local governments ahead of the June 3 local elections, Kim said, "There must not be the slightest leak or negligence in state affairs due to the election." He stressed that "the Cabinet must be thorough not only in pursuing state agenda tasks and basic policies but also in establishing balanced regional policies to be implemented after the local elections, as well as in emergency economic management and safety management." He called for "three intensive inspections nationwide — a thorough policy inspection, safety inspection, and emergency economic response inspection."