Presidential Office: "Parliament Situation is Fluid... State of the Nation Address is a Constitutional and Legal Duty" (Comprehensive)

-Democratic Party Refuses to Normally Accept President's Policy Speech on the 25th
-Presidential Office: "We Have the Duty to Receive Reports from the Government and Manage Them"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Presidential Office expressed on the 24th, a day before President Yoon Seok-yeol's policy speech at the National Assembly, that they "hope it proceeds smoothly." This response came after the Democratic Party of Korea set conditions for attending President Yoon's budget policy speech at the National Assembly and then expressed their intention not to participate normally in the speech in protest against the prosecution's renewed attempt to search the Democratic Research Institute within the party headquarters on the same day.

A Presidential Office official told reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in the afternoon, "While who delivers the policy speech is important, this is the first occasion to comprehensively explain the policy direction of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration," adding, "Just as the government has the duty to explain the country's expenditures to the National Assembly representing the people and to the public, the National Assembly also has the duty to receive reports on how the government will use taxpayers' money and to carefully oversee it."

Regarding the possibility raised by some that the Prime Minister might deliver the policy speech, the official said, "It has not been finalized who will deliver the policy speech," and added, "The situation in the National Assembly is very fluid, so we are closely monitoring it." However, the official also said, "Assuming the policy speech proceeds smoothly, the President hopes to have sufficient opportunity to explain the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's first budget to the public."

On the same day, President Yoon expressed displeasure on his way to work about the opposition party setting conditions for attending the policy speech. In response to various 'speech controversies' that have arisen and calls for an investigation into the Daejang-dong development scandal, President Yoon said, "I have never heard of attaching conditions to a policy speech in constitutional history." He emphasized, "The President's right to speak at the National Assembly is guaranteed by the Constitution, and when a budget is submitted to the National Assembly, delivering a policy speech is stipulated by the National Assembly Act," adding, "The schedule for the 25th was set by bipartisan agreement, and to my knowledge, I have never heard of additional conditions being attached in constitutional history."

This is interpreted as a refusal to link the Democratic Party's demands with the legally guaranteed policy speech. It signifies that the Yoon administration will not dilute its commitment to pursuing various national agendas and economic recovery by attaching conditions. The Presidential Office also stated that "the more difficult the economy becomes, the more vulnerable social minorities and disadvantaged groups suffer, and it is the government's fundamental duty to support and care for these groups," adding, "If the policy speech proceeds smoothly, we will thoroughly explain how we plan to implement and uphold policies for the more vulnerable social minorities and disadvantaged groups through maintaining fiscal soundness."

However, the Democratic Party's boycott of the policy speech implies non-cooperation in budget and bill processing, which could cause a chain reaction of setbacks not only for government reorganization plans such as the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the elevation of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, and the establishment of the Overseas Koreans Office, but also for legislation linked to national agendas. The ruling and opposition parties have already forecast a major clash in this year's regular National Assembly session. The Democratic Party has opposed budget cuts to representative projects from the Moon Jae-in administration, such as local currency and senior citizen jobs, promising budget restoration, while the government and ruling party have insisted on fiscal soundness. The situation is similar in bill reviews. The opposition opposes tax reforms such as corporate tax cuts, calling them 'tax cuts for the rich,' and has publicly stated that they cannot accept the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in the government organization law.

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