"Budget Review Neglected... Grounds for Expulsion if It Were a School"
Kim Gi-hyeon, leader of the People Power Party, urged the Democratic Party to reach a consensus on the amendment to the Korea Development Bank Act for relocating the Korea Development Bank headquarters to Busan, which is currently pending in the National Assembly.
He called for "an agreement on this matter."
At the People Power Party's Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the same day, Kim said, "If the Democratic Party continues to block all bills that can be passed immediately, they will face the stern judgment of the citizens of Busan."
After failing to secure the 2030 World Expo (Expo) in Busan, President Yoon Seok-yeol and Kim Gi-hyeon visited Busan the previous day to soothe public sentiment. Kim emphasized again on the day, "Our party is steadily pushing forward projects such as the construction of Gadeokdo New Airport, the relocation of the Korea Development Bank headquarters to Busan, and the redevelopment of Bukhang for Busan's development," adding, "We will also promptly advance the bill to foster Busan as a global hub city, as promised by President Yoon yesterday."
Kim Ki-hyun, the leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Kim also pointed out the delay in the review of the regular National Assembly budget. Due to political deadlock between the ruling and opposition parties, the budget bill missed the legal review deadline on the 2nd and is unlikely to be processed within the regular session period (until the 9th). Kim criticized, "The Democratic Party is stubbornly trying to cut and amend the livelihood budget prepared according to the Yoon administration's state philosophy from their own perspective again this year," adding, "They are not diligent in the budget review they should properly conduct but are only focused on finding political conflict, which would be grounds for expulsion if it were a school or dismissal if it were a company."
Furthermore, he criticized the Democratic Party's push for 'double special investigations' (Daejang-dong 5 billion Club and Kim Geon-hee's stock manipulation allegations) and the national audit. Kim said, "The issues the Democratic Party claims have already been sufficiently investigated and found to have no charges, are cases currently under investigation or trial, or have been revealed to be baseless and absurd allegations," adding, "The plan to conduct national audits and special investigations on outdated and irrelevant matters is a tactic to divert public criticism towards the Democratic Party and its leader Lee Jae-myung ahead of the general election, which the public understands."
Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, also took a tough stance against the opposition regarding the budget bill at the meeting. He stated, "The Democratic Party's plan to turn the government budget into a patchwork and to unilaterally pass their revised bill if no agreement is reached is clearly an unconstitutional legislative dictatorship," adding, "Even looking at the details, the opposition's attitude of disparaging the government budget has gone too far."
Yoon further said, "The Democratic Party claims they have been prepared for negotiations for a long time, but their talk of unilaterally passing a revised bill is a threat demanding the government and ruling party's surrender, not an attitude of negotiation," adding, "If the Democratic Party truly wants to negotiate, rather than making statements to justify budget overruns, they should stop mutilating and criticizing the budget and threatening unilateral passage, and show at least minimal respect for the government, ruling party, and the constitution."
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