Deadlock in Final Agreement on Next Year's Budget Between Ruling and Opposition Parties... Ruling Party Expected to Pass Alone (Update)

Proceeding to Unilateral Budget Approval at the Plenary Session Scheduled for 8 PM

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] The final negotiations for the ruling and opposition parties' 2022 budget bill were broken down on the 2nd.

Yun Hojung, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Gi-hyun, the floor leader of the People Power Party, held a meeting in the afternoon to discuss the 2022 budget bill but ultimately failed to reach an agreement.

After the negotiations ended, Floor Leader Yun told reporters, "We made efforts for an agreement between the ruling and opposition floor leaders today and yesterday, but we ultimately could not agree on all issues," adding, "There was no disagreement between the parties on processing the 2022 budget bill within today's legal deadline."

He continued, "We decided to prepare and process a revised bill based on the matters agreed upon so far between the ruling and opposition parties," and added, "The revised bill will be prepared on the premise that there may be claims in the plenary session regarding the unresolved issues."

Regarding the light aircraft carrier (Gyeonghangmo) acquisition project, on which the parties failed to narrow their differences, he stated, "This project cannot be delayed any further, and since its feasibility has already been thoroughly reviewed, the position remains unchanged that it must be included in next year's budget and definitely executed."

Due to the breakdown of negotiations, the Democratic Party is expected to proceed with the sole passage of the budget bill at the plenary session scheduled for 8 p.m. today.