Ruling and Opposition Parties to Reach Agreement on Supplementary Budget... National Assembly Suspends Plenary Session for Now

Park Byeong-seok "Urges Completion of Supplementary Budget Review"
Ruling Party: Must Process One Day Before Official Campaign
Opposition: "10 Million Won Is Necessary for Adequate Compensation"

The above photo is not related to the article. / Photo by Yoon Dongju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] The plenary session of the National Assembly held on the 14th was adjourned as the ruling and opposition parties failed to reach an agreement on the supplementary budget (supplementary budget bill).

Park Byeong-seok, Speaker of the National Assembly, declared the adjournment of the plenary session held at 3 p.m. that day, saying, "The supplementary budget bill for supporting small business owners and responding to quarantine measures was submitted on January 24, but the budget and accounts review on the scale of the quarantine support fund has not yet been completed," urging the completion of the review of the supplementary budget bill.

The ruling and opposition parties put their heads together from the morning to reach an agreement on the supplementary budget bill but failed to reach a conclusion. The biggest issue was the scale of the quarantine support fund for small business owners, with the government proposing 3 million won and the parties demanding 10 million won. The ruling party initially requested 5 million won but proposed a supplementary budget bill supporting 3 million won first and then a supplementary measure, which the opposition party did not accept.

Yun Ho-jung, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said after the meeting, "Since the plan to support 1 million won for those in blind spots is also included, I hope the opposition party will be more flexible about the part where the disaster relief fund should be 10 million won, not 3 million won." On the other hand, Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, argued, "The support fund for small business owners should be 10 million won to provide proper and sufficient compensation," adding, "The loss compensation rate should also be raised from the current 80% to 100%." Regarding funding, the ruling party mentioned issuing deficit bonds, while the opposition party referred to restructuring the main budget expenditure, showing differences.

The Democratic Party has set the deadline for processing the supplementary budget bill as the day before the official start of the election campaign on the 15th, raising the possibility of unilateral processing.

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