The National Assembly on Friday approved a 26.2 trillion-won ($17.7 billion) extra budget bill in an effort to cope with the economic fallout from the ongoing Middle East conflict, 10 days after the government submitted it. The legislation for the supplementary budget was passed at a plenary session in a 214-11 vote, with 19 abstentations out of 244 members present. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) reached the agreement earlier in the day to keep the size of the supplementary budget unchanged from the government’s initial proposal. The parties agreed to include in the budget the government’s plan to distribute cash assistance to the bottom 70 percent of income earners designed to help ease the burden from rising oil prices. With the bill’s passage, about 35.8 million people will receive between 100,000 won and 600,000 won per person, with payments differentiated by income level and region. The DPK and the PPP also agreed to allocate an additional 200 billion won to ensure the stable supply of naphtha, a key feedstock widely used i
