President Moon Jae-in has called for swift parliamentary passage of a supplementary budget plan to deal with the novel coronavirus. 

Moon made the request on Friday during a meeting with the chairs of the four ruling and opposition parties at the National Assembly. He said the government will quickly draft and submit the budget plan to parliament. 

Moon told the political leaders that he came to seek nonpartisan cooperation to contain the virus, which he described as a grave threat to both public safety and the economy. 

Noting the outbreak was already starting to take a significant toll, he called on them to help prevent further economic damage. The president cited his own experience of leading efforts to pass an extra budget bill during the 2015 MERS outbreak as the former leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, the predecessor of ruling Democratic Party(DP). 

With regard to current countermeasures, President Moon said his administration has been utilizing all available resources to contain the disease, while also recognizing active help and support from the public and political circles. 

He assured the country will overcome the virus outbreak by working together.

During the talks, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the chair of the main opposition United Future Party, said the coronavirus epidemic in the country was a man-made disaster. He argued that it was brought on by the government's decision not to enact an entry ban on arrivals from China during the early stages of the outbreak. 

Hwang claimed that his party, experts and the Korean people have been continuously calling for entry bans on Chinese, but the president failed to listen.

He also called on Moon to issue a public apology for his administration's handling of the crisis.

The meeting also involved ruling DP Chairman Lee Hae-chan, the chief of the minor Justice Party, Sim Sang-jeung, and You Sung-yop, the leader of the tentatively-named Public Livelihood Party, which is a merger involving the Bareunmirae Party, the Alternative New Party and the Party for Democracy and Peace.