Budget Bill D-Day Showdown... Ruling Party "Must Withdraw" vs Opposition "Process Reduced Proposal"

The People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea failed to narrow their differences over the Democratic Party-led budget reduction amendment even on the legal deadline for the 2025 budget bill on the 2nd. The People Power Party reiterated that it is impossible to negotiate unless the Democratic Party apologizes and withdraws the reduction proposal, while the Democratic Party clearly stated that there would be no concessions on the budget bill.

Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, criticized at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 2nd, saying, "The Democratic Party's sole evaluation of the budget bill, which was passed by the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee for the first time in history with their sole control, shows only the purpose of paralyzing the government, and when you look into the details, it is inconsistent."

Han said, "While the Democratic Party actively agrees with the AI Basic Act led by the People Power Party, it drastically cut the budget for research and development (R&D) of small modular reactors (SMR), a new hope for stable power supply essential for the AI ecosystem," and pointed out, "What is more frustrating is that they leave the inefficiency of local education finance as it is while trying to increase the ratio of local currency."

Regarding maintaining the National Assembly's special activity expenses while cutting the police's special activity expenses entirely, he said, "If the country really has no money and has to choose only one between these two, which do you think the people would choose? The National Assembly's special activity expenses or the police's special activity expenses for maintaining public order?" He fiercely attacked, "The Democratic Party's perspective is not only far from the people but also amounts to taking the people hostage in a hostage drama. Is the Democratic Party's goal for December 2024 to make the country one where the police do not properly conduct security activities?"

On the 28th, at the plenary session held in the National Assembly, the motion to consent to the arrest of Shin Young-dae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has been indicted on charges of manipulating primary election polls and accepting bribes, was rejected with 93 votes in favor, 297 against, and 5 abstentions out of 300 members present. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, also said regarding the Democratic Party's indication of forcibly passing the reduced budget bill in the plenary session, "If that happens, today will be recorded in constitutional history as the day when the majority party in the National Assembly lost reason and recklessly destroyed people's livelihoods and democracy," and urged, "The Democratic Party should apologize to the people and the government ruling party for the forced passage of the Budget and Accounts Committee's (reduced budget) and immediately withdraw it. If not withdrawn, we will not engage in any agreement." Earlier, Choo had criticized at a press briefing the day before, calling it "an unprecedented reckless act of bullying in constitutional history, following the order of 'Democratic Party father' Lee Jae-myung."

The ruling party seems to have calculated that by projecting an image of not yielding to opposition pressure, criticism may arise in constituencies due to the exclusion of increased budgets for local projects by Democratic Party lawmakers. Specifically, budgets for regional and national projects such as the Honam High-Speed Railway, Wirye Line road network construction projects, and the 'Great Whale Project' for the development of the East Sea oil and gas field were drastically cut. Regarding the special law for the creation of the Busan Global Hub City, Han said, "The People Power Party will improve the lives of Busan citizens by promptly passing the special law for the creation of the Busan Global Hub City," and emphasized, "Now is the golden time to revive Busan's vitality, and we must not miss this opportunity. It is a livelihood bill that the Democratic Party has no reason to oppose and nothing to use as a tool for political strife. We urge the Democratic Party to stop political strife in front of our people's livelihood."

Handonghun, the leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 2nd. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

The Democratic Party also left open the possibility of additional negotiations if the ruling party proposes a revised budget bill. The Democratic Party was unable to increase the budget related to 'local currency' during the budget review process due to opposition from the government and ruling party. If the ruling party proposes a revised bill, it is expected that negotiations could proceed to increase the opposition party's key budgets as well. The Democratic Party stated that it did its best to secure livelihood budgets by cutting unnecessary budgets such as the government's special activity expenses and special security expenses.

Earlier, opposition parties including the Democratic Party cut about 2.4 trillion won in budgets for prosecution and major power institutions at the Budget and Accounts Committee, including 8.251 billion won for the Presidential Secretariat and National Security Office's special activity expenses, 50.691 billion won for prosecution's specific task expenses, 8.09 billion won for prosecution's special activity expenses, 3.1 billion won for police special activity expenses, 4.5 billion won for the Board of Audit and Inspection's special security expenses, and 1.5 billion won for the Board of Audit and Inspection's special activity expenses.

Kang Sun-woo, co-representative of the Democratic Party's Innovation Council, said on the radio that morning, "If (the ruling party) proposes a revised bill, we naturally have the willingness to negotiate," and added, "Are they willing to propose an increased budget that takes care of people's livelihoods? If they make a sincere proposal, we naturally intend to consider it."

Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 29th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

The variable is if the ruling party does not propose a revised bill. Since the ruling party has emphasized that negotiation is impossible, the possibility of the Democratic Party-led reduced budget bill passing the plenary session is high. In this case, additional cuts to the opposition party-led budget bill may also occur. Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party, said, "Under the mediation of the Speaker of the National Assembly, the floor leaders of both parties can meet for further discussions," but warned, "If there is no response, more reductions are possible."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, emphasized people's livelihoods and urged the ruling party to negotiate the budget bill. At the Supreme Council meeting held in Daegu that day, Lee said, "Economic growth has stopped and domestic demand is stagnant," and added, "At times like this, the government's active fiscal policy is absolutely necessary."