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| Members of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party protest after the passage of a budget plan for the 2020 fiscal year without their consent at the National Assembly, Tuesday. |
By Park Ji-won
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other minor parties passed the government's 2020 budget at the national Assembly, Tuesday, despite protests from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP).
The final budget proposal for the next fiscal year was put to a vote and passed with 156 votes from the members of the DPK, three minor parties and a coalition of lawmakers on the last day of the Assembly's plenary session.
The spending plan worth 512.3 trillion won ($430 billion) did incorporate a 1.2 trillion won cut from the original government proposal of 513 trillion won. Since last week, the rival parties had continued to fight over budget, fine-tuning the amount to spend. The LKP and the minor Bareunmirae Party (BMP) wanted to cut it by 4 trillion won and 3 trillion won, respectively, while the DPK wanted to pare it down by 1.2 trillion won.
The Assembly also plan to pass around 200 bills that LKP lawmakers had originally planned to filibuster from Tuesday. Earlier in the day, it passed 16 bills including one of which implements stricter safety rules in school zones.
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| National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, behind the dais, speaks as Rep. Shim Jae-cheol, facing him, left, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, lodges a complaint about the passage of the 2020 budget bill at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Yonhap |
The LKP members fiercely opposed the passage, holding placards during the session criticizing what they called illegal legislation. The main opposition party is reportedly planning other measures including resurrecting its filibuster against the remainder of the bills pending. As a result, the Assembly is expected to face a bumpy road ahead in an extraordinary sessions that will begin today.
Prior to the vote on the budget bill, floor leaders of the DPK, the LKP and the BMP and members of the Budget Committee held talks with Speaker Moon Hee-sang, but failed to reach a compromise.
"In a morning meeting, members of the DPK and other minority parties decided to pass the budget today," said Rep. Lee Won-wook of the DPK. He added the DPK also did not want to delay the passing of bills related to the people's livelihood.
The floor leaders had agreed to pass the "livelihood bills" first on Tuesday and save the contentious fast-tracked bills on electoral and prosecution reform for discussion during the extraordinary session.
The budget move came amid a prolonged deadlock in negotiations on the spending and fast-tracked bills, after the parties failed to agree on the budget for next year by the legal deadline of Dec. 2. They also delayed the plenary session due to the potential LKP filibuster. However, following the election of Shim Jae-cheol as new LKP floor leader Monday, expectations had been high that the political parties could come up with a compromise through negotiations rather than boycotting legislative activities.
During the plenary session, Rep. Lee Man-hee of the LKP criticized the move by the ruling party's coalition to pass the budget, saying the LKP could not accept the bill and calling for its passage after consultations between legitimate members of the Budget Committee.
After a general meeting of party members following the vote, the LKP decided to again move ahead with a filibuster.
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| Lawmakers wait for a plenary session at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Yonhap |
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