Seoul City Budget Proposal, Processing Tomorrow Canceled Due to COVID-19 Impact

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Council's plenary session scheduled for the 22nd failed to pass next year's Seoul city budget proposal.

Kim In-ho, the chairperson of the city council, stated on the 21st, "The budget proposal has not yet been submitted to the Budget and Accounts Special Committee, so we decided to handle other agenda items first tomorrow."

Earlier, the Budget and Accounts Special Committee of the city council requested the chairperson group to coordinate the schedule, stating that it seemed impossible to present the budget proposal on the 22nd.

This was because there was an absolute lack of physical time to review the budget proposal due to the aftermath of a COVID-19 cluster infection at Seoul City Hall.

Next year's Seoul city budget proposal has exceeded the legal processing deadline of the 16th due to the cluster infection at Seoul City Hall.

Within the city council, there are discussions about extending the regular session or holding a one-point special session within the year to process the budget.

Currently, the regular session until the 22nd can be extended until the 27th according to regulations. There are also voices calling for a special session around the 30th to finalize the budget proposal.

Chairperson Kim In-ho mentioned, "There are differences of opinion between the council and Seoul city regarding the budget proposal, so more time is needed for discussion," adding, "We are considering extending the session or holding a special session."

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