Ruling and Opposition Parties Finalize Supplementary Budget Negotiations at Noon... Kwon Seong-dong Requests "Democratic Party's Cooperation"

Kwon Seong-dong, Floor Leader of the People Power Party, "The Supplementary Budget Bill Must Pass Quickly"

Kwon Seong-dong, Floor Leader of the People Power Party (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] The floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties will enter final negotiations at 12 noon on the 27th regarding the passage of the second supplementary budget bill (supplementary budget) for this year.

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, said to reporters after early voting in Wonju, Gangwon Province, in the morning, "Today, the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties agreed to meet around 12 o'clock to conduct final negotiations."

Floor leader Kwon urged the Democratic Party to cooperate in passing the supplementary budget bill. He emphasized, "This supplementary budget is for small business owners and self-employed people who have suffered due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. I want the supplementary budget bill to be passed as soon as possible to alleviate their difficulties," adding, "I ask the Democratic Party to actively cooperate as well."

He also explained, "During the preparation of this supplementary budget, budgets with poor execution performance or those without properly established project plans were cut as part of expenditure restructuring," adding, "As a result, parts of social overhead capital (SOC) projects such as railroads and roads were reduced."

He continued, "This does not mean that those projects will not be carried out, but the budget was cut because it cannot be fully used this year anyway," and added, "However, next year's budget will include the budget cut from this year's supplementary budget plus the budget that needs to be reflected next year. Therefore, there will be no disruption or delay in the projects."

The government and the People Power Party hold the position that the supplementary budget bill must be passed within this month to provide prompt support to small business owners and the self-employed. On the other hand, the Democratic Party is insisting on newly reflecting a retroactive COVID-19 loss compensation budget of 8 trillion won, 3 trillion won for support to farmers and fishermen, and 5 trillion won for emergency finance and debt management.