Woo Won-sik "Limits of Livelihood... Hope for Ruling and Opposition Parties to Agree on Supplementary Budget Today"

Speaker Woo: "The National Assembly Consultation Council Is Not a Place to Enforce One Side's Claims"

Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-sik urged Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Kwon Young-se, emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, and Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister, on the 20th to agree on the supplementary budget, saying, "A red light has turned on across the economy, and people’s livelihoods have reached their limit."

At the first meeting of the National Assembly Consultation Council held at Sarangjae in the National Assembly that afternoon, Speaker Woo said, "An agreement on the supplementary budget will be the news the public is most eagerly awaiting. It itself is a signal of political stability and the starting point for the recovery of economic sentiment."

Speaker Woo said, "The ruling party has also mentioned the necessity of a supplementary budget for people’s livelihoods, and the opposition party has expressed its intention not to insist on the scale and items according to the opposition’s proposal," adding, "Although there are contentious issues, there are areas where the sense of problem overlaps, so an agreement is possible."

He also repeatedly emphasized that, given the overlapping political and social issues and the confusion in the external environment, the National Assembly must demonstrate a spirit of consensus to coordinate major issues.

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Speaker Woo said, "In difficult and chaotic times, there must be a national control tower somewhere, and it should be clearly shown to the public that such a function is being performed so that people can feel less anxious," stressing, "Most of the pressing national tasks require the ruling and opposition parties to unite their will, and the National Assembly and the government must work together to resolve them."

He urged Chairman Kwon and Leader Lee, saying, "The National Assembly Consultation Council is not a place to enforce one side’s claims," and asked them to "attend the meetings focusing on what to concede and compromise to reach an agreement."

He also requested Acting President Choi, "Please take an active role instead of just waiting for a conclusion."

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