Lee Jae-myung "The ruling party says one thing but acts differently... Will secure the budget for people's livelihood"

Ahead of the plenary session on the 30th, ruling party pressures budget review
Lee: "Not the opposition but the ruling party is blocking the budget"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the government and ruling party, saying they are "virtually avoiding budget review and obstructing progress."

At the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 29th, Lee said, "As high inflation and high interest rates continue, the lives of the majority of the people have become difficult, and polarization has deepened, making the difficulties of the lower-income groups much greater. It is the role of the government and politics to take responsibility for the people's lives and solve their difficulties, but unfortunately, the government and ruling party are blocking discussions on budget reviews that would provide real help to the lives of ordinary people."

Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 29th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "Normally, the government and ruling party would actively engage in budget review while the opposition party opposes or delays the review, but the public finds it quite puzzling that the government and ruling party are instead avoiding the review and obstructing it. The People Power Party should not just talk about livelihood issues but actively participate in the budget review according to the original duties of the government and ruling party," he pointed out.

Lee also stated, "The Democratic Party will protect the lives of the people by increasing the livelihood budget," and announced plans including ▲increasing the budget for the Youth Tomorrow Employment Deduction ▲special support for youth monthly rent ▲increasing the budget for local currency ▲relief for victims of jeonse fraud ▲expanding support for housing-vulnerable groups ▲raising the meal allowance for military personnel.

Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties continue to engage in extreme confrontation over the passage of next year's budget bill. The legal deadline for budget approval is the 2nd of next month, and an agreement must be reached during the plenary sessions held over two days starting from the 30th for the budget to be processed on time. However, the Democratic Party plans to push forward with an impeachment motion against Broadcasting and Communications Commission Chairman Lee Dong-gwan according to the schedule, while the ruling party insists that the plenary session cannot be held unless a 'budget agreement' is reached.

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