Differences Persist in the Budget Committee Subcommittee... Ruling Party: "Tax and Economic Subcommittee Resolved" vs Opposition: "No Agreement Reached"

Ryu Seong-geol of the ruling party: "Only the Budget Subcommittee remains a contentious issue"
Opposition's Shin Dong-geun: "Content differs from the facts"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Hyun-ji] On the 15th, the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea once again revealed differences in their positions over the formation of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee subcommittees. The People Power Party claimed that "the chairmanships of the Tax Subcommittee and the Economic and Fiscal Subcommittee have been resolved," but the Democratic Party drew a line, saying, "No agreement has been made."

Ryu Seong-geol, the ruling party's secretary of the Planning and Finance Committee and a member of the People Power Party, said after a meeting of the party's Special Committee on Economic Stability at the National Assembly that day, "The People Power Party will take the chairmanship of the Tax Subcommittee, and the Democratic Party of Korea will take the chairmanship of the Economic Subcommittee (Economic and Fiscal Subcommittee)," adding, "However, the only remaining issue is who will chair the Budget and Accounts Subcommittee (Budget Subcommittee)."

He stated, "The ruling party, People Power Party, offered to concede so that the Democratic Party could chair the Budget Subcommittee for one year first, and then the People Power Party would take over for the remaining year, but the Democratic Party insists on chairing it for the full two years," adding, "We must discuss the tax law amendments related to the new budget and review the budgets related to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Korea Customs Service, the National Tax Service, and the Statistics Korea before the constitutional deadline for budget approval on December 2," and concluded, "I will meet with the opposition party's secretary soon to finalize this."

The Democratic Party immediately rebutted. Shin Dong-geun, the Democratic Party's secretary, posted on his social media on the same day a message titled "There are reports that differ from the facts regarding the formation of the Planning and Finance Committee's bill subcommittee," stating, "No agreement has been reached with the People Power Party on this matter so far," and "We correct the misinformation currently being reported."

The Planning and Finance Committee is composed of three subcommittees: the Tax Subcommittee, the Economic and Fiscal Subcommittee, and the Budget and Accounts Subcommittee. The People Power Party insists that, as per precedent, the ruling party should chair the Tax and Budget Subcommittees, but the Democratic Party argues that the majority party should chair them, leading to difficulties.

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