Moon: Korean New Deal designed for 'pacesetting' economy

SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in announced plans Monday for a string of big-spending government projects, including the Korean version of the New Deal, to ride out the economic crisis from COVID-19, presenting South Korea's "pacesetting" economic vision.

Moon confirmed the government's push for the biggest-scale supplementary budget in the country's history, as he presided over the sixth emergency economic council meeting at Cheong Wa Dae.

The session was meant to set the economic policy direction for the latter half of this year.

"The Korean version of the New Deal is a new national development strategy to leap from a follower country to a pacesetting nation," the president said.

The government will create a new opportunity for the future of South Korea with the massive creation of jobs by transforming the follower-style economy into a pacesetting one, he added.

He said the Korean version of the New Deal is based on two pillars -- the Digital New Deal and Green New Deal.

Moon also said the government will mobilize all measures to advance the recovery of the nation's economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

At the center of the campaign is a plan to allocate the third batch of extra budget amid the economic crisis.

"In order to continue bold budget spending in the latter half (of 2020), the government has drawn up a plan for a third supplementary budget on the largest scale as a single supplementary budget," Moon said, though he stopped short of providing an exact figure.

The government is expected to submit a related bill, reportedly worth around 30 trillion won (US$24 billion), to the National Assembly later this week.

The president requested bipartisan support for the speedy passage of the bill.

The Korean New Deal program will be included in the extra budget spending plan, according to Moon.

"It's just the beginning," he added. "The government will explore new projects and significantly expand the size of investment."

He said a longer-term comprehensive plan will be made public in July.

lcd@yna.co.kr
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