United Future Party Calls for 'Fourth Supplementary Budget' at August Extraordinary Session... Will Democratic Party Agree?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy, reporter Lee Jieun] The United Future Party is raising its voice to push for discussions on a "fourth supplementary budget" during the August extraordinary session of the National Assembly, which begins on August 18. The party argues that it is difficult to address disaster damages with only the reserve funds, but with the ruling party and government drawing a clear line against a supplementary budget, it remains uncertain whether such demands will be accepted.

On August 14, United Future Party floor leader Joo Ho-young, marking his 100th day in office, said at a press briefing, "The government seems to estimate the flood damage at around 500 billion won, but after visiting the affected sites, I believe the actual damage will exceed one trillion won. Direct support for affected households is only possible through a supplementary budget," he emphasized.

In this context, the United Future Party plans to request the convening of an extraordinary session of the National Assembly starting next week to conduct budget settlement reviews and to push for a fourth supplementary budget. Kim Sungwon, the party’s chief deputy floor leader, said, "The entire country has suffered significant damage due to the recent record-breaking monsoon, and since the early stages of the disaster, our party has visited affected communities, promised to devise support measures for recovery such as an emergency supplementary budget, and pledged to make disaster relief payments more realistic. To keep that promise, we will submit a request to convene the August extraordinary session and urge the government and ruling party to consider a supplementary budget."

Kim also criticized, "For some reason, unlike during the last general election, the government and ruling party seem to be hesitating on the supplementary budget, perhaps because there is no election this time. We strongly urge them to immediately cooperate in formulating a supplementary budget to deal with this urgent situation."

On the same day, Kim Chongin, chairman of the United Future Party’s Emergency Response Committee, also said during a meeting with merchants at Garak Market, "Regardless of political affiliation, both the ruling and opposition parties must work quickly to overcome the flood damage and restore everything to normal. Since the government and ruling party are also aware of the seriousness of the situation, they will do their utmost to secure a budget or a fourth supplementary budget for recovery as soon as possible."

However, it remains uncertain whether the Democratic Party will accept these demands from the United Future Party. The ruling party and government have previously agreed to double the disaster relief payment as requested by the opposition, but have withheld judgment on a fourth supplementary budget, stating, "The current budget is sufficient to handle the situation."

The ruling party is expected to focus more on launching the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) rather than discussing a supplementary budget during the August extraordinary session. Earlier, Lee Haechan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, pressured the United Future Party by saying, "Appoint the recommendation committee members and fulfill your legal responsibility by the start of the August session." He also hinted that if the United Future Party does not appoint the recommendation committee members for the CIO chief, the ruling party could push ahead with the CIO launch by amending the law. Meanwhile, the United Future Party, while internally considering the appointment of committee members, maintains its stance that the CIO itself is "unconstitutional" and will wait for the Constitutional Court’s ruling before taking any action.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.