[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties engaged in a decisive negotiation on the 7th regarding the passage of next year's budget bill. The People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea continued negotiations after missing the budget bill deadline on the 2nd of this month but failed to find a compromise. Both parties plan to reach an agreement on the national budget of 639 trillion won and related budget subsidiary bills by the end of the regular National Assembly session on the 9th, but the dismissal motion against Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min remains a variable.
People Power Party Floor Leader Joo Ho-young and Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Hong-geun continued so-called '3+3' talks from the morning, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, with participation from both parties' policy committee chairs and budget and accounts committee secretaries. Following the '2+2' talks held on the 4th and 5th by the policy committee chairs and budget committee secretaries, the floor leaders met two to three times late into the previous evening under Speaker Kim's chairmanship but failed to produce clear results.
The ruling and opposition parties reportedly narrowed differences over some contentious budget items such as small modular reactors (SMR) and renewable energy. Discussions are also underway to reduce the youth cost-price housing budget, known as a representative 'Yoon Seok-yeol budget,' by only 5-10% instead of a full cut, while partially increasing the public rental housing budget, known as the 'Lee Jae-myung budget.'
Both parties expressed their determination to pass the budget bill within the regular National Assembly session deadline. Song Eon-seok, People Power Party Deputy Floor Leader, appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the same day and said, "We are currently working hard to pass the budget by the 9th no matter what."
The variable is the Democratic Party's parliamentary meeting held in the afternoon. At this meeting, the Democratic Party will gather opinions from its members to decide whether to file a dismissal motion or an impeachment motion against Minister Lee and make a final decision. The previous day, Floor Leader Park Hong-geun consulted with former floor leaders and current standing committee secretaries about the method of disciplining the minister, with most reportedly favoring the dismissal motion. However, some hardline members are said to advocate proceeding directly with the impeachment motion.
If the parliamentary meeting decides to file either a dismissal or impeachment motion against Minister Lee, budget negotiations will fall back into uncertainty. The ruling party has repeatedly warned that if the minister's dismissal or impeachment occurs, there will be no budget negotiations. Floor Leader Joo appeared on KBS's 'Sunday Diagnosis Live' on the 4th and said, "Originally, we planned to pass the budget, conduct a state audit, and then hold the minister accountable based on the audit. If the opposition proceeds with a dismissal or impeachment motion before the state audit, it could affect the budget." In response, Floor Leader Park protested at the previous day's floor strategy meeting, saying, "Stop the political maneuvering that links the budget bill to disciplining the minister."
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