National Assembly Passes 607.7 Trillion Won Super Budget... Processed Beyond Legal Deadline (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The National Assembly approved the next year's budget bill amounting to 607.7 trillion won, which is 3.3 trillion won more than the government's proposal, on the 3rd. This is the largest increase in history.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The National Assembly held a plenary session on the morning of the 3rd, one day later than the legal deadline of the 2nd, and processed the 2022 budget bill with these details. Among the 236 members present, 159 voted in favor, 53 opposed, and 24 abstained. The revised bill cut 5.5 trillion won and increased 8.8 trillion won compared to the government proposal, resulting in a final increase of 3.3 trillion won.

The budget includes an increase in the local currency budget, strongly advocated by Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, from the original 240.3 billion won to 365 billion won. Accordingly, the issuance scale of local currency increased fivefold from 6 trillion won to 30 trillion won (15 trillion won from the government and 15 trillion won from local governments). Kang Eun-mi, a Justice Party lawmaker, condemned this, saying, "This is an absurd promise based on the assumption of our party candidate's election, and they must take responsibility for neglecting the urgently needed loss compensation and support budget." In addition, the budget passed by the plenary session reflected a 68 trillion won budget for small business support projects, including loss compensation, sales decline support, and issuance of local love gift certificates. The budget for purchasing oral COVID-19 therapeutics and securing beds for severe patients was also added during the National Assembly's review process.

Until the day before, the ruling and opposition parties negotiated over the budget but failed to reach an agreement due to differences over the light aircraft carrier design budget and the minimum amount for small business loss compensation. Accordingly, the budget was processed as a revised bill submitted by the Democratic Party, not as a consensus from the ruling and opposition budget and accounts special committee.

During the plenary session, another debate broke out between the ruling and opposition parties over the allocation of the light aircraft carrier budget. Shin Won-sik, a People Power Party lawmaker, criticized it as a "money-eating hippo," pointing out that "there is no consensus on its necessity." On the other hand, Ahn Kyu-baek, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, "Maritime security is an absolute task," adding, "If there are problems with the project, it can be amended and supplemented in the standing committee."