Joo Ho-young "Parliamentary Investigation After Budget Approval... Keep the Legal Deadline of December 2"

"Budget Agreement Must Pass for National Audit to Begin"
December 9 Tentative Deadline for Regular National Assembly Closing

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is attending the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunju Lee and Hyunji Kwon] Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, urged the opposition party to cooperate, stating that next year's budget bill must be processed by the legal deadline of December 2.

At the floor strategy meeting on the 25th, Floor Leader Joo said, "Yesterday (the 24th), we agreed with the Democratic Party to conduct a government audit after the budget is processed, but once again, with our party members having walked out, they are unilaterally slashing the budget for key policies and pledges and pushing it through in a reckless manner." He added, "The government audit will only begin once the budget is passed by agreement. For a smooth government audit, please stop the majority's tyranny and budget violence." After the meeting, he told reporters, "We must adhere to the constitutionally guaranteed deadline of December 2," and reiterated, "The Democratic Party should not unilaterally push through by force and cut the budget." This reflects his stance that it is important to comply with the legal deadline since the government audit is planned after the budget bill is processed.

This statement was directly prompted by the previous day's emergency full meeting of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, where the budget for public rental housing (worth 5.6 trillion won), a pledge of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, was passed without any People Power Party members present. Additionally, in the Political Affairs Committee, the budget related to President Yoon Seok-yeol's national priorities?such as the operation of the Regulatory Innovation Promotion Team under the Office for Government Policy Coordination, youth policy coordination and support, and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs?was mostly reduced and processed solely by the Democratic Party.

Despite Floor Leader Joo's wishes, the political circles strongly believe that processing next year's budget bill by the legal deadline of December 2 will be difficult. Lee Cheol-gyu, the ruling party's secretary of the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee, said in a phone interview that "We are absolutely aiming to pass it by the 2nd," but added, "Judging by the Democratic Party's atmosphere, it doesn't seem like it will be that smooth." Another ruling party budget committee member said, "We passed everything through increased review and held some in abeyance, but it is unpredictable," and "Today's review also has sharp conflicts, so it is hard to make a simple prediction." It is also highly likely that the review of budget-related bills such as tax laws, which must be passed together with the budget bill, will not be concluded by the 2nd.

For this reason, both ruling and opposition parties see December 9, the closing day of the regular National Assembly session, as the final deadline for processing the budget bill. Since the government audit is pending, the Democratic Party cannot hold onto next year's budget bill beyond the regular session. The deadline for the government audit is January 7 of next year, and to secure at least a month for audit activities, all budget bills must be finalized by early next month. Kim Seong-hwan, chairman of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, recently stated at a meeting, "We intend to adhere to the legal deadline as much as possible," and added, "No matter how late, the budget bill will be processed before the closing day of the regular session on the 9th of next month."

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