Endless National Policy Council... Supplementary Budget Talks Go Nowhere Amid Ruling and Opposition Tug-of-War

Ruling and Opposition Parties, Government Agree on Supplementary Budget but Delay Due to Political Standoff
Supplementary Budget Likely to Face More Hurdles After Impeachment Trial Verdict
Will the 'Supplementary Budget Failure' of Eight Years Ago Repeat? Parties on Alert

People Power Party Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong is delivering a negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly plenary session on the 11th. Photo by Yonhap News

As the presidential impeachment trial and early presidential election emerge as focal points in the political landscape, the intensified 'tug-of-war' between the ruling and opposition parties has led to an indefinite postponement of the four-party National Affairs Council meeting. Consequently, the preparation of a supplementary budget aimed at restoring livelihoods and the economy is inevitably delayed. Although both the government and the parties internally agree on the necessity of the supplementary budget, progress has stalled due to their political calculations.

According to the National Assembly and government on the 11th, the ruling party, opposition, and government have yet to set a schedule for the National Affairs Council. Initially, the policy chiefs of the ruling and opposition parties agreed during a working-level meeting on the 4th to hold the National Affairs Council by the 11th at the latest, with Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, and party leaders attending to discuss national issues candidly. However, there has been no news as of this day.

A government official said in a phone interview, "We have not yet received any schedule related to the National Affairs Council from the ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly," adding, "Since the tug-of-war between the parties continues, they are pushing to have more working-level talks, so I expect further delays." Cho Seung-rae, the senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party, told reporters, "The People Power Party has suggested doing it 'bottom-up' again, so we are coordinating the schedule," and added, "There is no concrete date being exchanged yet on when the working-level talks will take place."

With the National Affairs Council postponed, there is analysis that the 'Cherry Blossom Supplementary Budget' preparation has become even more distant. Even if the ruling and opposition parties agree on the broad framework, it takes at least about two months to finalize the specific scale and items and pass through the Cabinet meeting. If, as legal experts predict, the Constitutional Court issues a ruling on President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial by the end of this month or early next month, leading to a political shift, the supplementary budget is likely to become even more complicated amid party conflicts.

Within the government, concerns are growing that the 'failure of the supplementary budget' incident during the 2016 impeachment crisis of former President Park Geun-hye might be repeated. At that time, the ruling party Saenuri Party (predecessor of the People Power Party) pushed for an early supplementary budget in February, while the opposition Democratic Party opposed it. Subsequently, as the political system shifted to the impeachment trial and early presidential election of former President Park, the parties' calculations became more complicated, and the budget was postponed repeatedly until it eventually fizzled out. The supplementary budget was finally prepared in June after the Moon Jae-in administration took office.

Currently, the ruling and opposition parties are conducting conditional negotiations linking the supplementary budget to sensitive issues such as the Semiconductor Special Act and pension reform. A government official said, "I understand there is a sentiment within the ruling party that it is difficult to hold out without preparing the supplementary budget," adding, "An early supplementary budget is necessary to resolve the issue of budget cuts."

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