Choo Kyung-ho Rejects Woo Won-shik's Proposal for Budget Bill Dinner Meeting

Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, is reported to have declined the dinner meeting proposed by National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik regarding the budget bill involving floor leaders from both ruling and opposition parties.

Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 28th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

According to political circles on the 1st, Choo's office conveyed their intention not to participate in the dinner meeting proposed by Speaker Woo. This refusal is interpreted as a protest against the opposition party's forced passage of the budget bill reflecting only cuts.

Earlier, Speaker Woo proposed a dinner meeting on the same day to the floor leaders of both ruling and opposition parties concerning next year's budget bill. The proposal aimed to resolve the conflict between the parties that arose after the Democratic Party forcibly passed a reduced budget plan cutting 4.1 trillion won from the 677.4 trillion won government budget during the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee (Budget Committee) session on the 29th of last month.

The People Power Party opposed the forced passage of the reduced budget plan. On the 29th of last month, a People Power Party Budget Committee member stated at a press conference, "(This reduction) is purely a retaliatory cut aimed at shielding Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea."

The Democratic Party also intends to bring the budget bill to the plenary session as planned the following day. Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at a press briefing, "Since an agreement with the ruling party failed and the Ministry of Economy and Finance did not agree to an increase, we will inevitably submit the reduced budget bill to the plenary session tomorrow, the legal deadline," adding, "We also plan to handle the supplementary budget-related bills in tomorrow's plenary session." However, regarding Speaker Woo's dinner proposal, Floor Leader Park explained, "If the government and ruling party show a progressive attitude, there is definitely room for additional negotiations."