[Reporter’s Notebook] Is This the Time to Be Leisurely Canvassing as the 'Perfect Storm' Approaches?

While Lawmakers Battled Over the Budget,
They Focused on Securing Votes Ahead of the 2024 General Election
Corporate Tax Cut Falls Short Despite Grim Economic Outlook for Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] "They stay in the region all day, so it's hard for us to even see their faces." "You could say we've already entered the general election period. There are more local events to attend due to the year-end and New Year holidays. I have over 10 schedules just in the afternoon, and by the time I leave work, my mouth smells like sugar."

When the ruling and opposition parties were locked in a tug-of-war over the 2023 budget throughout December, where were the main players on the stage? Many legislative aides met during this period pointed to the empty offices of lawmakers who were busy securing votes ahead of the April 10, 2024 general election.

Although both parties emphasized the urgent need to pass the 'people's livelihood budget' quickly, warning of a perfect storm (complex economic crisis) next year, how many lawmakers were fully present in Yeouido in body and mind? Even though the ruling and opposition parties have long engaged in blame games, with internal party members passing responsibility by saying "negotiations are the leadership's job," this budget ended up being the longest delayed budget in history, exceeding the legal deadline by 21 days and marking the first failure to pass the budget within a regular session since the 2014 introduction of the National Assembly Advancement Act.

In the budget to be passed at the plenary session on the afternoon of the 23rd, a compromise was reached on parts that seemed immovable under the so-called 'people's livelihood budget.' The representative 'Lee Jae-myung-style' budget item, the local love gift certificates, was agreed upon at 352.5 billion KRW. At the '2023 Budget Debate' held last October, Park Jung, the opposition party's budget committee secretary, called it "a representative livelihood budget to support small business owners amid next year's economic crisis," and insisted "it must not be cut at all," so it seemed the full 705 billion KRW budget would be preserved, but a compromise was reached at about half that amount.

Also considering next year's economic situation, the People Power Party, which emphasized until the last moment the need to lower the corporate tax top rate to stimulate domestic corporate investment, settled on a 1 percentage point reduction in tax rates across all brackets. Initially, they opened the debate proposing a 3 percentage point cut (from the current top rate of 25%) to significantly enhance corporate competitiveness, but in the end, the Federation of Korean Industries expressed disappointment saying, "It is not sufficient as initially expected," and the Korea Employers Federation noted, "Under a more challenging business environment than competing countries, this reform still has limitations," making it a case of much noise but little substance.

Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties cut 4.6 trillion KRW compared to the government's proposal. Some speculate that, as has been customary, part of the budget increases and decreases will be divided as constituency budgets. Given that this was the worst delayed budget dragged out longer than ever, it is hoped that no one will now try to claim the remaining budget for themselves.

"Politicians should at least have some conscience!" Even if today's budget passes the National Assembly plenary session, it seems inappropriate to overlook the words of National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo during the previous budget negotiations.

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