Democrats: "If impeachment is not done, reduced budget bill will pass" vs Han Dong-hoon: "Threatening the people"

Democratic Party Budget Committee Press Conference
"No Budget Agreement Without Impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol"
Han Dong-hoon Admits "Budget Cuts Were Wrong" on Facebook

The Democratic Party of Korea announced on the 8th that if the People Power Party does not agree to impeach President Yoon Seok-yeol, they will pass the reduced budget bill on the 10th. In response, Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, criticized, "Using the confirmation of the reduced budget bill as a 'means of intimidation' means the Democratic Party admits that the reduced budget bill is wrong."

On the 8th, Park Jung, chairman of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, and Democratic Party members of the committee held a press conference at the National Assembly, stating, "There will be no budget negotiations without the impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol," and "If the government and the People Power Party do not agree, we will definitely pass the (reduced) budget bill on the 10th, as set by Speaker Woo Won-sik."

Assemblyman Park Jung

They argued, "The Democratic Party also wants a prompt budget agreement, but are we supposed to agree with an unconstitutional government that conspired to commit insurrection?" and "Whether President Yoon steps down voluntarily or is impeached, the budget should be agreed upon only after the unconstitutional elements are resolved."

On the other hand, Leader Han criticized on Facebook, "The Democratic Party is threatening the public with a reduced budget."

Handonghun, Leader of the People Power Party. Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, the Democratic Party forcibly processed next year's budget bill reflecting only the National Assembly's reductions at the Budget and Accounts Special Committee on the 29th of last month, and then demanded the bill be submitted to the plenary session of the National Assembly by the legal deadline for budget processing on the 2nd.

Speaker Woo postponed the submission of the reduced budget bill, asking both parties to prepare a consensus by the 10th, but the day after, on the 3rd, President Yoon declared martial law, completely halting negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties.

In this situation, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok requested the National Assembly to promptly finalize next year's budget bill.

Democratic Party budget committee members rebutted, "Deputy Prime Minister Choi says, 'Please pass the budget to maintain external credibility,' but it is not the budget bill that lowered credibility, but the declaration of martial law," adding, "In that sense, the impeachment of President Yoon is essential."

They also said, "The Democratic Party's reduced budget only cut the special activity expenses of the prosecution and the presidential office, and specific task expenses, which are executed without transparency," and "We do not understand which part is paralyzing state affairs."

Heo Young, Democratic Party secretary of the Budget and Accounts Special Committee, told reporters, "Today, I called Deputy Prime Minister Choi and protested, asking, 'Why did you brief that the current economic crisis and credibility decline are due to the opposition party?'" and criticized, "The government side does not even recognize the opposition party's efforts for people's livelihood and economic recovery."

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