Criticism of Yoon's supplementary budget agreement failure... Park Hong-geun asks, "Why blame the National Assembly and the Democratic Party?"

"The President Didn't Expect to Ignore the National Assembly"
Urging Measures to Resolve the Income Reversal Phenomenon and More

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is giving an opening remark at the party meeting held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 20th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] As the ruling and opposition parties are experiencing difficulties ahead of the passage of the second supplementary budget bill, Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised his voice, stating, "It is clear that the responsibility for making the situation of the supplementary budget passage more difficult lies entirely with President Yoon Seok-yeol and the ruling party."

On the 28th, through Facebook, Floor Leader Park said, "After hearing President Yoon's statement last night regarding the National Assembly's discussion on the supplementary budget, I doubted my own eyes and ears."

President Yoon said in materials distributed through the spokesperson's office the previous day, "Small business owners and self-employed people are struggling to breathe, but it is truly regrettable that the National Assembly is not convening today."

Regarding this, Floor Leader Park said, "It is an utterly absurd perception and attitude," adding, "Above all, it was filled with arrogance and distrust that belittled the legislative branch, as if the president alone is concerned about the people while the National Assembly does not care about them at all."

He pointed out, "Moreover, the final difficulties in the National Assembly over this supplementary budget stem from the president's own breaking of his campaign promises, so why is he shifting the responsibility onto the National Assembly and the Democratic Party?"

He then mentioned that President Yoon promised retroactive application of COVID-19 loss compensation during the presidential election. He criticized, "Despite the Democratic Party cooperating even to the extent of consenting to the prime minister's appointment, the president attacks them with an unprecedented level of audacity, and the ruling People Power Party is busy framing this as obstruction of state affairs for the local elections."

He also said, "Even though the media has widely reported this, I do not understand why he deliberately waited until that time to unnecessarily boast and break the negotiation atmosphere," adding, "I never expected the president to openly disregard the National Assembly to this extent."

Floor Leader Park stated, "It is clear that the responsibility for making the situation of the supplementary budget passage more difficult lies entirely with President Yoon and the ruling party," urging President Yoon, "I hope you keep in mind that you must provide a responsible stance regarding the broken promise of retroactive application of loss compensation to the struggling small business owners and self-employed, and immediately respond on how to resolve the unfair income reversal phenomenon (the grievance of self-employed people whose sales slightly increased despite more effort) caused by the current loss compensation payments and future loss compensation funds."