Democratic Party Bearing Unlimited Responsibility, Concerned About Post-Supplementary Budget Period

The Democratic Party starts operating the Budget and Accounts Committee from today to process the 3rd supplementary budget.
Preliminary reviews in standing committees led by the ruling party have all been completed.
Concerns grow over the National Assembly situation after the supplementary budget. The 'one-party dictatorship' frame is a dilemma.

On the 30th, members of the United Future Party are absent from the full meeting of the Budget and Accounts Committee held at the National Assembly. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The Democratic Party of Korea, having completed the first half of the 21st National Assembly's organizational structure, held a special budget committee meeting on the 30th to begin the full-scale review of the third supplementary budget (supplementary budget). Although the review is expected to proceed smoothly due to the Future United Party's boycott of the review, the Democratic Party's concerns about the National Assembly's situation after the supplementary budget approval are deepening.

On the morning of the same day, the Democratic Party held a full meeting of the Budget and Accounts Committee and began comprehensive policy questioning on the 35 trillion won scale third supplementary budget with government ministries including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki.

Earlier, immediately after completing the organizational structure at the plenary session the previous day, the Democratic Party activated all standing committees to conduct preliminary reviews of the supplementary budget bill. All standing committees approved the supplementary budget bill and forwarded it to the Budget and Accounts Committee. Specifically, the Education Committee approved an increase of 388 billion won to indirectly support universities returning tuition fees to college students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next, the Environment and Labor Committee passed the Ministry of Environment's budget of 603 billion won as originally proposed. It also increased the Ministry of Labor's budget of 6.0916 trillion won by 37.4 billion won and forwarded it to the Budget and Accounts Committee. The Industry, Trade and Energy Committee approved an increase of 2.31 trillion won, and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee increased about 79.8 billion won, including 5.5 billion won for the Film Development Fund.

The Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee increased the budget by 316.3 billion won, including new guarantee support for agricultural and fishery businesses, and the National Defense Committee reduced 200 million won from the advanced information and communication education budget and 700 million won from the advanced science training and education budget, approving the rest as per the government’s original proposal.

In addition, the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Political Affairs Committee, Public Administration and Security Committee, Health and Welfare Committee, Science, Technology, Information and Communications Committee, Steering Committee, and Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee all approved the government’s proposal as is.

Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Hong Nam-ki is attending the full meeting of the Budget and Accounts Committee held at the National Assembly on the 30th for the review of the 3rd supplementary budget proposal, giving a presentation./Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Deputy Prime Minister Hong urged the passage of the supplementary budget bill at the full meeting, saying, "It is expected that more than 6.4 million people will benefit directly or indirectly." He explained, "Confirmed cases continue to occur mainly in the metropolitan area, and the number of employed people decreased by 392,000 in May, indicating ongoing risks to quarantine and the economy. We prepared the third supplementary budget to secure financial ammunition to support a policy package worth a total of 277 trillion won and to enable a fast and strong economic recovery and leadership in the post-COVID-19 era."

For now, the Democratic Party plans to compress the review process as much as possible to pass the third supplementary budget within the June extraordinary session of the National Assembly, as requested by the government. They plan to conclude the comprehensive policy questioning of the Budget and Accounts Committee on this day and start detailed review by activating the Budget Adjustment Subcommittee from the 1st. The Democratic Party’s plan is to pass the supplementary budget bill at the plenary session on the 3rd.

Since there are no particular variables such as objections from the Future United Party, the supplementary budget approval is expected to proceed smoothly. The problem lies in the National Assembly’s situation after the supplementary budget. Although the Democratic Party can accelerate government administration in the second half of the year, including supplementary budget approval, by monopolizing the standing committees, the political burden has also increased accordingly. They bear unlimited responsibility for domestic and international issues such as the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 and the normalization of inter-Korean relations.

The Democratic Party appears confident, saying they can handle this burden. Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Cheong-rae wrote on Facebook the day before, "It is better to show responsibility than to divide 11 to 7," adding, "I hope the 21st National Assembly will be recorded in history as the first year of a working National Assembly, where the chronic problem of obstructionism in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea disappears."

However, it is also reported that there are opinions that the opposition party’s cooperation is necessary for the launch of the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Agency, a key pledge of the Moon Jae-in administration, and that a path should be paved for the Future United Party to return to the National Assembly due to concerns about the 'one-party dictatorship' frame.