Yoon Raises 'Principle' Again... Budget Politics at 'Zero Hour' Until Year-End

President Yoon Seok-yeol on Budget Bill: "Stick to Principles Until the End"
Opposition Criticizes as "Super Tax Cut Emphasized by Yongsan... Yongsan Avatar"

[Asia Economy Reporters Baek Kyunghwan, Oh Jooyeon, Geum Boryeong] As negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties over next year’s budget bill face difficulties, even the Presidential Office has joined the fray. This comes as President Yoon Seok-yeol has for the first time raised the issue of ‘principles’ in the handling of the next year’s budget bill. Even on the 20th, well past the legal deadline for budget approval, the ruling and opposition parties have not even set up a negotiation table and continue to blame each other, making it likely that the budget deadlock will continue in a standoff until the end of the year since the introduction of the National Assembly’s advanced procedural law.

According to the Presidential Office on the day, President Yoon and his aides expressed concern over the delay in the budget bill during the Presidential Chief Secretary (Daesubi) meeting the previous day and reaffirmed their commitment to reviewing and pushing forward national tasks by the end of the year. A senior official from the Presidential Office elaborated, "The implementation of national tasks is a promise to the people, and the budget must also be operated according to principles to promote these national tasks. This has been our consistent stance."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, during his regular meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, President Yoon said, "Given the expected downturn in the global economy next year, the importance of next year’s budget is greater than ever to revive the economy and protect vulnerable groups, but the delay in its approval is regrettable to the people," adding, "The government must do its duty to the people and do its best to process next year’s budget while adhering to principles until the very end."

This is the first time President Yoon has mentioned ‘principles’ regarding the National Assembly’s budget approval process. Since the principle of the rule of law was upheld during the recent resolution of the Cargo Truckers’ strike, this can be interpreted as shifting responsibility for the delay in budget approval to the opposition party and signaling a determination to keep promises on key national tasks such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Police Bureau and the Ministry of Justice’s Personnel Information Management Unit.

However, there are concerns that President Yoon’s emphasis on ‘principles’ could further freeze the already tense year-end budget negotiations. Unlike the strike situation, budget negotiations require cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties, and the President’s principle stance could be interpreted as "no compromise with the opposition."

In fact, Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized President Yoon’s principle remarks during a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly that morning, saying, "It is a reiteration of Yongsan’s will to push through super-rich tax cuts and illegal enforcement decree budgets to the end," and added, "Negotiations with the ruling party, which has become a ‘Yongsan avatar,’ have reached a deadlock as the President’s rejection prevents any progress."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Because of this, the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties over next year’s budget is expected to continue until the end of the year. During previous behind-the-scenes negotiations, the two sides had narrowed many gaps, but they are now locked in a fierce tug-of-war over the two remaining key issues: corporate tax cuts and the budgets for the Police Bureau and Personnel Information Management Unit, making it impossible to move forward even a single step. Even on the 20th, two days after Speaker Kim Jin-pyo’s final ultimatum, the ruling and opposition parties only engaged in a ‘blame game’ similar to the previous day, resulting in repeated stalemates. Floor leader Park urged, "The People Power Party should fully accept the ‘Speaker’s mediation proposal’ even now," while People Power Party floor leader Joo Ho-young said at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly, "The budget has long passed the legal deadline, but today’s situation is no different from yesterday’s." However, since the meeting between the two floor leaders through the Speaker’s mediation remains open, a last-minute agreement is still possible.

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