The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the government on Monday agreed to sharply expand the scale of relief funds for struggling small business owners in the wake of the recent upsurge in COVID-19 infections.

The consensus was reached during a high-level consultative meeting between the two sides earlier in the morning, Rep. Koh Yong-jin, a DP spokesman, said in a briefing.

"(The two sides) agreed to provide ample support to small merchants by increasing the size of assistance to the maximum level ever for disaster situations and expanding the scope of its beneficiaries," the spokesman said.

During the meeting, the DP and the government also agreed to start distributing the assistance on Aug. 17. Under the timetable adopted by the two sides, about 80 percent of the 1.13 million small merchants eligible for the relief assistance will be entitled to benefit from the program in the first round of the assistance distribution.

According to Koh, relevant parliamentary committees agreed on a combined increase of more than 3.5 trillion won (US$3 billion) in relief funds for small merchants hit by the pandemic, on top of the about 3.9 trillion won already earmarked for the purpose in the pending extra budget bill.

"The government will positively review (the proposed increase) and work toward reflecting it on the budget bill as much as possible," Koh quoted the government side as having said during the meeting.

He also added that the 33 trillion-won extra budget, currently pending at the National Assembly, is highly likely to grow further as well, although the matter requires final consensus between rival parties.

The 33 trillion-won extra budget bill, aimed at combating the aftermath of the pandemic, was submitted to the National Assembly on July 1. However, the government and the DP are reviewing ways to expand the bill further as the fourth wave of mass COVID-19 infections prompted the country to enforce its highest Level 4 social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area. (Yonhap)