Democratic Party unilaterally passes supplementary budget at 31.8 trillion won

The Democratic Party on Friday unilaterally passed a supplementary budget bill including funding for consumer vouchers intended to help revive the economy.

Han Byung-do, a Democratic Party lawmaker and chair of the Budget Adjustment Subcommittee under the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, strikes the gavel during a meeting of the subcommittee at the National Assembly on July 2, where the second supplementary budget proposal for 2025 was reviewed. [YONHAP]

The Democratic Party (DP) unilaterally passed a supplementary budget bill worth approximately 31.8 trillion won ($23.3 billion) including funding for consumer vouchers intended to help revive the economy, during a plenary meeting on Friday held by the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts.

In response, lawmakers from the People Power Party (PPP) staged a mass walkout in protest of what they called the ruling party's unilateral decision-making.

Rep. Park Hyeung-soo, the PPP’s secretary on the budget committee, criticized DP budget committee chairman Han Byung-do for “railroading the vote, citing a tight schedule.”

The initial supplementary budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly by the Lee Jae Myung administration amounted to 30.5 trillion won ($22.37 billion). Some items were reportedly increased during the standing committee and budget committee reviews, bringing the final budget to 31.8 trillion won. Although the rival parties negotiated possible cuts and additions to the bill until Thursday, they failed to reach an agreement.

Main points of contention included not only the consumer voucher program but also the proposed increase to the presidential office's special activity funds.

“An additional 4.1 billion won has been earmarked for the presidential office’s special activity expenses in the supplementary budget,” Rep. Cho Jung-hun of the PPP said.

“More than 300 billion won has been slashed from basic pension funds, and the budget for North Korean human rights initiatives has been completely eliminated,” while “funding for the Gwangju Expressway project has been increased by more than 100 billion won.”

Cho further warned that the government would likely need to issue approximately 24 trillion won in treasury bonds to finance the supplementary budget, asking, “Is the government taking on debt to fund pet projects in districts represented by ruling party lawmakers?”

The National Assembly is scheduled to convene a plenary session Friday evening to finalize the vote.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY JEONG JAE-HONG [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]