Democratic Party to Convene Lawmakers' Meeting on the Morning of the 11th
"Is Tax Reduction for the Privileged a Budget for People's Livelihood?"
Serious Expressions on the Faces of Ruling and Opposition Party Floor Leaders(Seoul=Yonhap News) Photo by Baek Seung-ryeol = On the morning of the 10th, People Power Party Floor Leader Joo Ho-young (left) and Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Hong-geun are leaving the National Assembly Steering Committee Chairman's office after negotiating the budget bill for the next year. The ruling and opposition party floor leaders agreed to hold further negotiations in the afternoon to reach a budget agreement.
[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] Amid difficulties in negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties over next year's budget, the Democratic Party of Korea criticized the People Power Party on the 10th for advocating a corporate tax cut, saying, "How can a tax reduction budget that benefits only a small privileged class be called a livelihood budget?" Furthermore, the Democratic Party plans to hold a plenary session on the morning of the 11th to process a motion to dismiss Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, even if no agreement is reached between the parties.
Lee Kyung, the senior deputy spokesperson, stated in a commentary on the same day, "The People Power Party is deceiving the public with the lie that 'the opposition is obstructing the livelihood budget.'"
Regarding the People Power Party's proposal to lower the highest corporate tax rate for taxable income over 300 billion won from the current 25% to 22%, a 3 percentage point reduction, the Democratic Party pointed out, "Among the approximately 840,000 corporations in our country, only about 100 companies earn an operating profit of 300 billion won or more annually," criticizing that "they insist on corporate tax cuts only for large corporations." They also criticized, "The government and ruling party continue to maintain the abolition or reduction of financial investment income tax, inheritance tax, and capital gains tax, all of which are taxes that only a small privileged class can pay."
In addition, the Democratic Party stated that even if the budget agreement between the ruling and opposition parties fails, they will hold a plenary session on the morning of the 11th to process the motion to dismiss Minister Lee Sang-min of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The deadline for processing the dismissal motion, which was reported to the plenary session on the 8th, is the 11th.
The Democratic Party also convened a party meeting at 9 a.m. on the 11th.
Park Hong-geun, the floor leader, announced in a notice sent to party members, "If negotiations are concluded, we plan to convene a plenary session tomorrow (the 11th) morning to process the budget and the motion to dismiss the Minister of the Interior and Safety. However, even if the budget negotiations ultimately fail, the dismissal motion must be processed by holding a plenary session tomorrow morning."
Lee Su-jin, the floor spokesperson, told reporters, "We have requested the Speaker to open a plenary session," adding, "It is fair to hold it even tomorrow."
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