Yeo "Budget Subcommittee Disruption, Isn't It a Government and Ruling Party Trick to Disrupt the State Audit?"

Holding a Press Conference to Urge Participation in Budget Review
Criticism of Deliberate Disruptions by the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee and the Political Affairs Committee

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] On the 28th, during the Budget and Accounts Special Committee's Budget Adjustment Subcommittee session at the National Assembly, which was disrupted due to cuts in the government budget proposal, opposition subcommittee members urged the government and ruling party to rejoin the budget review process.

Members of the Democratic Party's Budget Adjustment Subcommittee held a press conference at the National Assembly on the 29th, stating, "The responsibility for the Budget Committee's disruption lies with the government and the ruling party, and we hope this disruption is not a ploy to derail the national audit investigation."

The previous day, the People Power Party raised issues with the budget cuts made solely by the Democratic Party during the review of next year's budget in preliminary committees such as the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee and the Political Affairs Committee, arguing that the Budget Subcommittee could not proceed with reduction reviews. Subsequently, after a deadlock, the Budget Subcommittee session that started in the afternoon was disrupted within about 10 minutes.

In response, the Democratic Party called it "truly deplorable," adding, "We are astonished at the audacity of the government and ruling party, who so disdain and belittle the National Assembly, the people's representative institution, that they dare to carry out such actions."

They claimed that the Budget Subcommittee disruption was intended to block the national audit investigation. The members said, "We are suspicious about the sudden disruption of the budget review subcommittee, which had been proceeding smoothly without any disagreements until last Thursday, due to the People Power Party's show of force. This is because the national audit investigation was passed by the plenary session on Thursday (the 24th), and from Friday (the 25th), the behavior of the People Power Party's Budget Subcommittee members suddenly changed 180 degrees." They emphasized, "If this is not a political tactic to obstruct the national audit investigation, such an incident would not have occurred."

They also stated they would continue persuading the ruling party to cooperate. The members said, "Although all budget review subcommittee schedules ended as of yesterday, we will strive to create a people's budget, not just the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's budget, through negotiations with the People Power Party. We still have four days left until December 2. During these four days, we strongly request that the People Power Party and the government actively participate in the budget review."

During the press conference, the members pointed out issues in each standing committee. Representative Yoo Dong-su criticized the budget under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, saying, "We requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for the business plans for youth sale housing and station area housing, but it seems there are no business plans. They said they are now preparing them." He added, "We also asked LH (Korea Land and Housing Corporation), and it appears the supply measures were announced without consulting LH."

He continued, "There are no business plans, and they cannot concretely specify how many units will be sold on the site. We have no intention of obstructing what the Yoon Seok-yeol government wants to do out of selfishness or prejudice."

Regarding the budget under the jurisdiction of the Political Affairs Committee, Representative Min Byung-duk said, "The core of the Political Affairs Committee's budget reduction is that the Veterans Affairs Office's publicity budget increased from 3 billion won to 18 billion won, while the standing committee's budget was cut by about one-sixth, or 3 billion won." He criticized, "If there is a need for an increase, it can be sent from the Budget Subcommittee to the Political Affairs Committee, so what is the intention behind ignoring normal procedures and throwing a tantrum?"

The opposition plans to request consultations between the party whips with the ruling party on that day, and if no agreement is reached, they intend to proceed with the review independently. Park Jung, the opposition Budget Committee whip, said, "We plan to hold consultations between the whips today. We will discuss whether we can open the subcommittee from this afternoon and continue discussions, possibly convening the chairman's goodwill tomorrow." He added, "We are continuously trying to reach an agreement, but if not, since there are pending issues in the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee and the Political Affairs Committee, further discussion is necessary, so we plan to continue the review."