Cabinet asks Yoon to veto controversial cash handout bill

Opposition-led bill proposes giving all Koreans 250,000 won each

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo taps the gavel during a Cabinet meeting held Tuesday. (Yonhap)

The Cabinet on Tuesday voted to ask President Yoon Suk Yeol to veto the Democratic Party of Korea bill for handing out 250,000 to 350,000 won ($182 to $255) to every South Korean as economic relief.

Earlier this month, the bill was passed in the Assembly by the majority-holding Democratic Party despite the ruling People Power Party pushback.

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the Cabinet was “once again forced to consider bills that passed the Assembly in the absence of bipartisan support.”

The prime minister said that the bill was feared to put a considerable burden on the government budget and fuel inflation.

“It is deeply regrettable that such legislation, which would cost the taxpayers significant sums of money and pose an unnecessary burden on the economy, was passed unilaterally by the opposition without bilateral cooperation and public consensus,” he said.

“Concerns are growing that the Assembly has come to represent the interests of a certain political party or a single politician rather than those of the nation and people.”

The universal cash handout scheme was initially put forth as an Assembly election pledge by then-Democratic Party leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung.

After the Cabinet rejected the opposition leader’s proposal, citing possible economic fallouts, the Democratic Party turned the pledge into the bill and then voted to pass it using its majority in the Assembly.

Also on Tuesday, the Cabinet asked Yoon to turn down another disputed bill that would exempt workers from being held accountable for possible damages resulting from strikes or other labor disputes. Under the bill, labor rights would be extended to contract workers, granting them legal protection that they are currently denied.

The labor bill, already once vetoed by the president last December amid strong protests from employers’ groups, passed the Assembly again this month.

By Kim Arin(arin@heraldcorp.com)