Democratic Party to Attend Policy Consultation Meeting as Scheduled... Park Chandae Urges Ruling Party to Present Supplementary Budget Proposal

"Urgent Action Needed on Extra Budget"
Amid Concerns Over Absence Following Yoon's Release
Move Seen as Preempting Criticism of Using Livelihood Bills as Leverage

The Democratic Party of Korea indicated on the afternoon of March 10 that it intends to attend the scheduled ruling and opposition parties' policy consultation meeting as planned. However, the party demanded that the ruling party present a concrete plan for the supplementary budget (extra budget).

Park Chandae, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party, told reporters at the National Assembly that day, "Since the supplementary budget is urgent, the ruling party needs to bring a proposal," expressing this position.

Floor Leader Park stated, "Pension reform and the Special Act on Semiconductors are important, but the supplementary budget requires urgent action," adding, "We have asked the government and the ruling party to bring a concrete plan, and we have already proposed 35 trillion won. If they do not respond but still want to hold the consultation meeting, it seems like a show."

Initially, the Democratic Party had not confirmed its attendance at the policy consultation meeting scheduled for that day, due to the aftermath of President Yoon Suk-yeol's release over the weekend. However, the party announced that it would participate in the meeting to discuss livelihood-related bills.

At the National Assembly's ruling and opposition party policy consultation held on the 6th, participants are holding hands. From the left, Kim Sanghoon, Policy Committee Chairman of the People Power Party; Kwon Sungdong, Floor Leader; Woo Wonsik, Speaker of the National Assembly; Park Chandae, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea; Jin Sungjun, Policy Committee Chairman. 2025.3.6 Photo by Kim Hyunmin

The policy consultation meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m. that day, presided over by National Assembly Speaker Woo Wonsik. It is expected that, as Floor Leader Park emphasized, discussions will mainly focus on the supplementary budget proposal. Both the ruling and opposition parties have reached a consensus on the need for a supplementary budget; however, the People Power Party is advocating for a "targeted supplementary budget" aimed at vulnerable groups such as small business owners and basic livelihood security recipients. In contrast, the Democratic Party has proposed a so-called "super supplementary budget" of 35 trillion won, which includes the distribution of local currency to all citizens.

It is also likely that the meeting will continue discussions on prioritizing parametric reforms for pension reform, as agreed upon at the previous meeting. Previously, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to first discuss parametric reforms related to pension reform-specifically, the contribution rate and the income replacement rate-and then to address structural reform and the automatic adjustment mechanism in the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Pension Reform. There are no disagreements between the parties regarding raising the contribution rate from 9% to 13%. At the meeting, discussions are expected to focus mainly on the income replacement rate. The People Power Party is advocating for 43%, while the Democratic Party is proposing 44%.

In political circles, the Democratic Party's decision to attend the policy consultation meeting as scheduled is seen as an intention to separate its government criticism following President Yoon's release from the handling of key livelihood-related bills. There is an interpretation that if the party were to focus solely on government criticism, it could be accused of using key livelihood bills as leverage to pressure the ruling party, so it was necessary to preemptively prevent such criticism.