Government and Party "Second Consumption Coupons, Excluding High-Asset Holders"...Selective Distribution from the 22nd

[Financial News] The Democratic Party of Korea and the government held a government-party consultation with the Administrative Safety Committee at the National Assembly on the 2nd to discuss the distribution of the second recovery consumption coupons scheduled to be distributed from the 22nd. At this meeting, the government and the party agreed to exclude high-asset holders from the distribution target and decided to selectively distribute based on health insurance premiums.
Democratic Party members of the National Assembly's Administrative Safety Committee announced this at the National Assembly on the same day, after holding a government-party consultation with Minister Hojoong Yoon of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other officials from the Ministry. Yoon Geonyoung, a ruling party member of the Administrative Safety Committee, stated in a briefing after the government-party consultation, "We had an in-depth discussion on the criteria for the second distribution of recovery consumption coupons," adding, "There was also a heated debate on the local extinction response fund."
For the second distribution of recovery consumption coupons, the government and the party decided to use household health insurance premiums, similar to the 'COVID-19 National Support Fund' in 2021. Through this, the government plans to select citizens in the bottom 90% of income as the distribution target. 
A separate cutoff standard was also prepared at the level of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to select the top 10% of income as non-payment targets. Citizens whose property tax standard amount exceeds 1.2 billion won or who have interest or dividend income of more than 20 million won are expected to be excluded from the distribution target.    
As the second distribution approaches following the first distribution that started in July, the government and the party are accelerating the selection of distribution criteria and targets. This is because the government and the party share the perception that recovery consumption coupons have an actual consumption activation effect. 
Minister Yoon, who attended the government-party consultation on the day, emphasized the effect of the recovery consumption coupons, saying, "As a result of distributing more than 9 trillion won worth of recovery consumption coupons to 49 million citizens, the consumer sentiment index has risen to 111.4 for the first time in seven years." He added, "The second recovery consumption coupons are scheduled to be distributed from the 22nd, with the distribution policy decided on the 12th," and "We will make further efforts to make it a driving force for domestic demand activation and growth."   
In addition, the government and the party also addressed the dissatisfaction caused by the lack of usage places for some local residents and military personnel during the first distribution. 
Shin Jeonghoon, Chairman of the National Assembly's Administrative Safety Committee and a Democratic Party member, evaluated the recovery consumption coupons as "a policy centered on people and the field," but pointed out, "If it causes inconvenience by having to travel long distances in a state where there is no place to obtain fresh food or daily necessities in rural areas, it is just a policy for the sake of policy." He also raised the issue that military personnel are experiencing inconvenience in using the recovery consumption coupons only at the address registered in their resident registration, making it difficult to use them near their service area. 
In response, the government and the party decided to consider expanding the usage places of the recovery consumption coupons to local cooperatives. This is to ensure that local residents without nearby usage places can use the recovery consumption coupons more conveniently. As a measure related to military personnel, prepaid cards that can be used in the commercial area near their service area will be provided. 
gowell@fnnews.com Hyunggu Kim, Reporter