Ruling and Opposition Parties Fail to Agree on Supplementary Budget and Plenary Session Schedule... Reunite at 4 PM

Ruling and Opposition Floor Leaders' Meeting Ends in One Hour
Disagreements Remain Over 10 Trillion Won Supplementary Budget and March Extraordinary Session Schedule
Plenary Session Schedule to Be Discussed Again at 4 p.m.

The meeting between the ruling and opposition floor leaders, chaired by Speaker Woo Won-sik, ended without any progress after an hour, confirming only disagreements between the two sides regarding the government's announced plan to submit an additional supplementary budget (supplementary budget) of 10 trillion won and the schedule for the plenary session. With the March extraordinary session of the National Assembly set to conclude on April 3, the two floor leaders agreed to meet again to discuss the plenary session schedule.

Speaker Woo Won-shik and the floor leaders of the two major parties are meeting at the National Assembly on the 31st. From the left, Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, Speaker Woo, and Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. 2025.3.31 Photo by Kim Hyun-min

On the 31st, Park Hyung-soo, the senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, told reporters after the meeting chaired by the Speaker that "there was no agreement on that part, so we decided to meet again at 4 p.m. today to continue discussions" regarding the plenary session schedule. The meeting, which began around 10 a.m., lasted about an hour and focused on topics such as the government's announced 10 trillion won supplementary budget plan and the plenary session schedule.

As expected, no agreement was reached on the 10 trillion won supplementary budget plan. Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said in his opening remarks that the supplementary budget was "an empty husk without substance," adding, "The scale is far too insufficient to revive people's livelihoods and the economy, and even if the ruling and opposition parties agree on the purpose, they said they would present a supplementary budget plan after consulting with the relevant ministries."

On the other hand, Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, said, "This supplementary budget contains no contentious issues between the ruling and opposition parties and only includes urgently needed budgets," adding, "I think we need to create a separate discussion structure for the proposals requested by both the ruling and opposition parties after this supplementary budget is urgently passed."

After 20 minutes of opening remarks, the meeting shifted to a closed session, but it appears that there was no significant discussion regarding the supplementary budget. Previously, the Democratic Party proposed a 35 trillion won supplementary budget including a 250,000 won consumption coupon for all citizens, while the ruling party proposed a 15 trillion won supplementary budget.

Regarding the schedule for the last plenary session of the March extraordinary session of the National Assembly, which ends on April 3, the ruling and opposition parties also clashed in opinions. Park Sung-jun, senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party, told reporters after the meeting, "There are major issues such as the supplementary budget, wildfire damage, violation of constitutional order, and sensitive countries, so I suggested that a standing plenary session be held from the 1st of next month," adding, "This means processing bills in the plenary session on the 1st and conducting National Assembly inquiries on current issues from the 2nd to the 4th." He added, "Since it is difficult to agree on the schedule, our party plans to hold the National Assembly Steering Committee at 3 p.m. today to set and pass the plenary session schedule."

Meanwhile, the People Power Party's position is to hold the plenary session on the last day of the March extraordinary session, April 3, and look forward to the April extraordinary session. Park, the senior deputy floor leader, said, "Sensitive countries have already been sufficiently discussed in standing committees, and the supplementary budget should be handled in the standing committees and then go through the Budget and Accounts Committee before coming to the plenary session," adding, "While agreeing on the April extraordinary session schedule, I told the Speaker that if necessary, we could have an urgent inquiry on current issues for about a day."

Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties maintained a tense standoff throughout the meeting. Park, the floor leader, said in his opening remarks, "We urge the People Power Party to stop all acts that sympathize with the rebellion and actively cooperate in protecting the constitutional order."

Kwon, the floor leader, criticized, saying, "The Democratic Party is talking about cabinet impeachment, serial impeachment, and double impeachment, which can only be seen as a loss of reason," adding, "If realized, it would be a rebellion and a subversion of the state." He also demanded the withdrawal of the nominee, saying, "I don't understand why there is such an obsession with the appointment of Ma as a Constitutional Court justice."

Also, when Park referred to President Yoon Seok-youl as 'Yoon Seok-youl' during his opening remarks, Kwon said, "It is very unpleasant to hear," and criticized, "If you do this, wouldn't you also be upset if the criminal defendant Lee Jae-myung is called 'Lee Jae-myung'?"

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