The post surfaced after the opposition-controlled National Assembly passed a bill<\/a> to provide a cash handout of 250,000 won to all South Korean citizens on August 2 as “emergency livelihood support” during a cost of living crisis, one of Lee’s general election pledges (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n The plan has been opposed by President Yoon Suk Yeol and the ruling People Power Party (PPP), who say it is fiscally irresponsible. The Democratic Party struck down<\/a> a filibuster by the PPP, but Yoon is still expected to veto the bill (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n The same graphic was also shared on other Facebook pages linked to the PPP here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Comments left on the posts indicated several users were misled to believe Lee or the Democratic Party bill proposed granting Chinese tourists cash handouts.<\/p>\n Several users called Lee crazy while others said he should fund the handout out of his own pocket “rather than with taxpayers’ money”.<\/p>\n But a spokesperson for Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Young-kyo — who co-authored the bill — told AFP the claim in the posts were “not true”.<\/p>\n He went on to say Article 5 of the bill has clearly outlined which types of foreigners would be eligible to receive payouts and it did not include Chinese tourists.<\/p>\n According to the final draft of the bill<\/a> posted on the National Assembly’s website, only foreigners residing in the country married to a South Korean national, those who have permanent residency status or those that were granted asylum in South Korea would be eligible for the handout (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n The image of Lee shared with the false post corresponds to a scene from Channel A news footage<\/a> of the former Democratic Party chairman first proposing the cash handout plan on March 24, in the leadup to the April election (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n The report, which included snippets of Lee’s speech, said Lee proposed handing out 250,000 won to every South Korean citizen in his address.<\/p>\n Below is a screenshot comparison of the image shared in the false posts (left) and the original Channel A news report on Lee’s speech (right):<\/p>\nCash payout bill<\/h3>\n