Ministry of Foreign Affairs Budget Proposal Fails to Pass... Ruling and Opposition Clash Over 'Gonggwan Remodeling'

Ministry of Foreign Affairs 'Diplomatic Network Establishment' Sparks Ruling and Opposition Clash
Unification Ministry and Democratic Peace Advisory Budget Approved in Plenary Session

Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] The ruling and opposition parties clashed over the remodeling costs of the Foreign Minister’s official residence, resulting in the failure to submit next year’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget proposal.

On the 7th, the Democratic Party of Korea unilaterally approved the budget proposals related to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Unification for next year at the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee’s Budget Review Subcommittee. However, since Yoon Jae-ok of the People Power Party, the ruling party, chairs the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, and no agreement was reached between the ruling and opposition party secretaries on the agenda for the plenary session, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget proposal was ultimately not submitted at the committee’s plenary session.

The ruling and opposition parties continued reviewing next year’s budget proposal at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee’s Budget Subcommittee until the morning, following the session on the 4th, but failed to narrow differences over the last-minute contentious issue of the 7 billion KRW “Diplomatic Network Establishment” project included in next year’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget proposal.

Democratic Party lawmakers criticized this budget as “incurred costs derived from the Blue House’s move to Yongsan” and a “trick budget,” demanding a significant cut. They argued that including the remodeling costs of the official residence in the Diplomatic Network Establishment project, which is characterized as an operational expense, was a trick budget related to the Yongsan relocation.

However, the People Power Party side criticized this, saying, “They are nitpicking over the budget for the reception space where the Foreign Minister hosts foreign dignitaries for diplomatic activities,” and demanded the original proposal be approved.

After continued confrontation, the government and ruling party proposed a “compromise plan” to include the budget in the proposal for now but to review the opposition’s concerns in the National Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Special Committee. However, this was not accepted. Ultimately, the Democratic Party, which holds the majority of the subcommittee members, unilaterally approved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Unification budget proposals with the entire amount of the disputed budget cut about an hour after the meeting began.

Immediately afterward, at the plenary session of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, the ruling and opposition parties engaged in a heated debate over the Democratic Party’s unilateral approval of the budget proposal.

Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee ruling party secretary Tae Young-ho said in a procedural statement, “The opposition party’s forceful passage of the budget proposal in the Budget Subcommittee by leveraging their majority is an abuse of the majority and is hampering our country’s diplomacy.”

In response, opposition party secretary Lee Jae-jung said, “President Yoon Seok-yeol’s Blue House relocation budget is included under the name ‘Diplomatic Network Establishment.’ This is a trick to reduce the appearance of a large Blue House budget,” adding, “If this is an unavoidable budget caused by the Blue House relocation, then find the proper category and request it.”

In the end, the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary session did not submit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget proposal containing the disputed budget, and only the Ministry of Unification and National Unification Advisory Council budget proposals, on which the ruling and opposition parties mostly agreed during the Budget Subcommittee review, were submitted and approved.