Lee Jae-myung: "87.8 Billion Won for New Yeongbingwan? Money That Could Give 10 Million Won to Flood Victims"... Opposition Party: "We Will Cut the Entire Amount"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The Democratic Party of Korea has announced plans to cut the budget after the Presidential Office allocated 87.8 billion won for the construction of a guesthouse.

On the 16th, Lee, the party leader, said at an on-site Supreme Council meeting held at the Jeonbuk Provincial Government Office in Jeonju, Jeonbuk, "If 87.8 billion won is spent on building a guesthouse, isn't that enough money to give about 10 million won to 10,000 households of flood victims?"

Lee addressed Park Hong-geun, the Democratic Party floor leader, saying, "Is this something that cannot proceed without the National Assembly's consent through parliamentary review as a general budget matter?" He added, "It is our duty to respect public opinion and, since we hold the majority of seats, to ensure that budgets contrary to public opinion do not pass."

In response, Floor Leader Park said, "The funds come from the National Property Management Fund, but as mentioned, the President stated that the cost of relocating the Presidential Office was 46.9 billion won, and this is already the second increase." He continued, "The Ministry of Economy and Finance said it would strictly conduct preliminary feasibility studies, but this case was exempted." He added, "There is a problem as the public continues to be deceived openly. Government budgets are reviewed by the National Assembly, and this project undergoes preliminary review by the National Assembly's Steering Committee and full review by the Budget and Accounts Committee, so we will proceed with cuts."

He said, "We cannot overlook how much taxpayers' money is being wasted on relocating the Presidential Office," and added, "We will cut the entire 'shepherd budget' through the Budget and Accounts Committee review."

Meanwhile, the Presidential Office stated in a press release that day, "After returning the Blue House to the public and relocating to the Yongsan Presidential Office, we held official events at venues such as the Defense Convention Center, but there were many evaluations that these did not match the national dignity." They added, "Therefore, we proposed the necessity of establishing annex facilities to the National Assembly," and emphasized, "The final decision on the budget lies with the National Assembly. Once the budget is confirmed, we will transparently disclose the related costs to the public."

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