Woo Won-sik, Speaker of the National Assembly, Proposes Dinner Meeting with Ruling and Opposition Floor Leaders on 'Budget Bill'

The Democratic Party of Korea proposed a dinner meeting between Speaker Woo Won-shik and the floor leaders of both ruling and opposition parties regarding the ruling party's unilateral passage of the government budget bill, which only reflected cuts, at the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts (Budget Committee).

Speaker Woo Won-shik, People Power Party Floor Leader Choo Kyung-ho (left), and Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Chan-dae (right) are meeting at the National Assembly on the 26th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

According to political circles on the 1st, Speaker Woo proposed a dinner meeting to Chu Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, and Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, for that afternoon. However, it is reported that the meeting has not yet been confirmed.

Speaker Woo is said to have proposed this meeting concerning next year's budget bill. The opposition parties, including the Democratic Party, forcibly passed the next year's budget bill reflecting only a 4.1 trillion won reduction through the full session of the Budget Committee on the 29th of last month. The opposition stated that if no agreement on the budget bill was reached, the government’s budget bill would be automatically submitted to the plenary session, and they had no choice but to forcibly pass the reduced budget bill.

The ruling party strongly opposed this. On the 29th of last month, the People Power Party Budget Committee members held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Hall, stating, "This is purely a retaliatory cut to protect Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung," and added, "Not a single won of the livelihood budget that the Democratic Party claimed would be increased for the people's welfare was reflected. The responsibility for the public's anger lies entirely with the Democratic Party."