DP Vows Immediate Review of 'War Supplementary Budget'... "Will Break Through Industrial Bottleneck"

"People Power Party, Please Cooperate for the Sake of the People"

Jeong Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has reaffirmed the party's intention to quickly review and process the government's forthcoming supplementary budget bill, which will be submitted in response to the Middle East crisis, by next month.

Jeong Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the 'Seoul On-site Supreme Council Meeting' held at the National Assembly on March 30, 2026. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

At the 'Seoul On-site Supreme Council Meeting' held in the main conference hall of the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the morning of March 30, Jeong stated, "The Democratic Party will begin its review of the government's supplementary budget proposal as soon as it is submitted and will ensure that it is processed at the plenary session of the National Assembly scheduled for April 10."

The government plans to submit the supplementary budget plan to the National Assembly on March 31. Regarding this, Jeong explained, "As the Middle East war enters its second month, the country faces a triple crisis of high oil prices, high exchange rates, and high inflation, making extraordinary measures for price stability and livelihood support urgently necessary." He added, "We will participate actively in the Lee Jae-myung administration's efforts to stabilize the people's livelihoods and respond swiftly to the Middle East war by processing the supplementary budget at the fastest pace in history."

Addressing the People Power Party, he said, "When it comes to the people's livelihoods, there is no distinction between the ruling and opposition parties," and urged, "I ask the People Power Party to cooperate proactively with this war-related supplementary budget, for the sake of our businesses and citizens."

Han Byungdo, floor leader of the Democratic Party, stated, "Tomorrow, a supplementary budget bill worth 25 trillion won will be submitted to the National Assembly," and pledged, "We will break through the industry's bottlenecks by including budget items for diversifying naphtha import sources and supporting the price difference on imports."

Han also pointed out, "The People Power Party claims the supplementary budget is nothing but electioneering cash handouts," adding, "With one hand, they try to postpone the supplementary budget review until after the government questioning session, and with the other, they demand the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee."

He continued, "The Republic of Korea has overcome the IMF foreign exchange crisis, the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and even the December 3 insurrection with the strength of its great people. At every critical juncture, there have always been parties that tried to exploit the crisis and hinder progress, and parties that persevered and stood by the people."

Han added, "The People Power Party will be remembered in history as the party that abandoned the people in times of crisis and took their livelihoods hostage. The Democratic Party will overcome this Middle East crisis together with the people, no matter what."

Meanwhile, Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the People Power Party, met with reporters right after the ruling and opposition parties' '2+2 meeting' hosted by the Speaker of the National Assembly on the same morning. Regarding the timing of the supplementary budget review, he commented, "The National Finance Act stipulates that only war or large-scale disasters qualify (for a supplementary budget), but is there actually a war in Korea? This is just an excuse by the Democratic Party, a war-pretense supplementary budget." He added, "It would be appropriate to process the bill at the plenary session scheduled for April 16, after the government questioning session and review by the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts."

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