"Must Finish Negotiations Today"... Opposition Urges Ruling Party to Expedite Talks

"Ruling Party, Busy Buying Time While Watching Yongsan"
"Special Committee on State Affairs Investigation Must Be Fully Operational Next Week"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The ruling and opposition parties continue to experience confusion over the passage of next year's budget bill. As the ruling party has not responded to the mediation proposal presented by the Speaker of the National Assembly, the opposition party urged that negotiations must be completed within today.

On the 16th, Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, urged the government and ruling party at the party's Supreme Council meeting, saying, "The budget negotiations must be finalized within today."

The previous day, Speaker Kim Jin-pyo presented a mediation proposal on the budget bill to both parties, which included a 1 percentage point reduction in the highest corporate tax rate and the allocation of contingency funds to agencies established by enforcement ordinances. The Democratic Party expressed willingness to accept the mediation proposal, but the People Power Party has reserved its position.

Both parties are expected to continue efforts for negotiations today as well. Floor leader Park said, "After much deliberation yesterday, the Democratic Party decided to accept the mediation proposal suggested by the Speaker, but the ruling party has been preoccupied with buying time while watching Yongsan," adding, "We urge the ruling party to take full decision-making authority this time and approach the negotiations with a heavy sense of responsibility."

Despite passing the deadline set by the Speaker of the National Assembly for the final negotiation on the 15th by one day, the ruling and opposition parties remain at a standstill. While there is talk in political circles about the possibility of a dramatic agreement today and convening a plenary session of the National Assembly, the prevailing view is that negotiations will be difficult to conclude within today due to disagreements between the parties.

Accordingly, there is also a possibility that budget negotiations will continue until the end of this month. On the same day, Kim Seong-hwan, chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, said on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" that the legal deadline for negotiations based on the Speaker's mediation proposal, rather than the Democratic Party's unilateral amendment, is "December 31." If negotiations are not completed by then, the Democratic Party will have no choice but to resort to a unilateral amendment.

The Democratic Party leadership also emphasized the need to activate the Special Committee on National Assembly Investigation, which has been temporarily suspended due to delays in budget passage. Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung stressed, "The national investigation must be fully operational starting next week," and floor leader Park also announced, "As time has been reduced due to the delay in budget passage, extending the investigation period is inevitable. We will fully activate the national investigation starting next week."

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