"I Won't Set a Deadline or Time Limit for Negotiations"... Democratic Party Changes Budget Review Strategy

Democratic Party's 5 Major Future Budgets and 5 Major Living Budgets Unveiled
Applying a Different Budget Review Strategy Than Before
"Reduce Contingency Funds to Increase R&D Budget"
This Year, Additional Reviews Expected in Committees

"The Democratic Party of Korea is firmly committed to the budget review for next year and has clear principles. We announce that it will be different from the past."

On the 6th, the Democratic Party disclosed its evaluation and review direction for the next year's government budget proposal. The party introduced that it will respond with a completely different negotiation method regarding the review of next year's budget, which was tightened amid the tax revenue shortfall crisis.

First, the Democratic Party announced five major future project budgets: an increase in research and development (R&D) budget, expanded investment in renewable energy in preparation for RE100, strengthened childcare support as a countermeasure for low birth rates, increased budget for youth and future generations, and the Saemangeum project budget.

Kang Hoon-sik, the Democratic Party's Budget and Accounts Committee spokesperson, explained, "We plan to reduce the contingency fund by 1.5 trillion won to increase the R&D budget by more than 2 trillion won." In addition, the Democratic Party stated, "We will significantly cut unnecessary budgets such as increased personnel expenses for senior public officials, greatly increased business promotion expenses and specific task expenses centered on power institutions." Considering that the contingency fund was around 3 trillion won before COVID-19, the party said it would "significantly adjust the contingency fund."

They also announced five major living expense budgets. These include ▲support for issuing local love gift certificates ▲a 30,000 won annual pass project to reduce youth transportation costs ▲support for nursing hospital caregiving expenses ▲budgets for small business owners' gas and electricity bills support and loan interest burden programs ▲budgets for rescuing victims of jeonse fraud and housing welfare projects for youth and middle-class citizens.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A notable point in this year's budget is that a completely different budget review strategy from last year has been devised. During a Q&A session with reporters, Spokesperson Kang said, "(Next year's budget) will not set a negotiation deadline or time limit," adding, "There may be questions about whether we will create an independent revised proposal or by when the deadline will be, but those questions are meaningless. We will use all possible methods." The Democratic Party itself will not be bound by negotiation deadlines and, unlike last year, will respond with an NCND (neither confirm nor deny) stance regarding the formation of an independent budget proposal.

The policy on demanding an increase in total expenditure has also changed. Former Democratic Party floor leader Park Kwang-on criticized the government's budget plan, which increases total expenditure by 2.8% compared to this year, and demanded an increase of more than 6%. However, the party decided not to set a target for the total expenditure growth rate. Lee Gae-ho, the Democratic Party Policy Committee chairman, said, "We decided not to consider the total expenditure growth rate when setting the review direction this time."

Spokesperson Kang said, "The Democratic Party's basic idea is that the budget should be spent where it is needed," adding, "We think it is inappropriate to set a cap and adjust accordingly. While we have a negative stance on the government's total amount increase, we will discuss and adjust it later."

Kang also introduced, "We plan to aim for a 5 trillion won reduction in this year's budget," and "Through detailed reviews by each standing committee expert, we have identified about 4.7 trillion won worth of budget reduction projects."

The operation method of the subcommittee, where the budget proposal is actively discussed, is also expected to proceed differently from previous years. Kang said, "In the past, the Budget and Accounts subcommittee only made cuts and ended, and increases were handled by the small subcommittee (consisting of the Budget and Accounts Committee chair, ruling and opposition floor leaders, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance). This time, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to try both cuts and increases," adding, "Unlike before, the media will be able to observe discussions on increases as well." He said, "Although the small subcommittee was inevitable in some respects, this year, some directions regarding increases will also be disclosed."

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