The ruling and main opposition parties said Wednesday they cannot accept the government's budget plan for 2013 that cuts back on child rearing subsidies, and criticized policymakers for trying to challenge parliament's legislative powers.
The rare joint move comes after the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced earlier in the week that Seoul plans to limit monetary support for families with children under two years of age starting March 2013. The government set aside just 4.7 trillion won ($4.2 billion) to cope with child rearing support expenses next year, which is 500 billion won shy of what lawmakers claim is needed to gave assistance to all parents.
Under this plan, only people in the lower 70 percent income bracket will get money from the state, compared to universal coverage offered at present.
The ministry claimed the decision was made because it did not have enough funds and there is a need to focus assistance on people who need it the most.
South Korea has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, a fact that could seriously affect the country's growth potential down the road.
"Free child rearing subsidies are something that has already been agreed upon by both the ruling and opposition parties and is a policy already being supported by the government," said Rep. Choi Jae-sung.
The lawmaker, who is the main opposition Democratic United Party's (DUP) ranking member in the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budgets and Accounts, made clear it would be safe to say that money allocated to the program would he marked up in the coming deliberations process.
The DUP also said in a statement read by a spokesperson that the cut is a direct challenge to the legislative power of lawmakers and, as such, unacceptable.
This view was echoed by a ruling Saenuri Party source who pointed out that lawmakers were committed to the program, which was a key campaign pledge ahead of the April 11 parliamentary elections.
Saenuri's presidential candidate Park Geun-hye, the DUP's hopeful Moon Jae-in and independent contender Ahn Cheol-soo all criticized the government's decision to backtrack on the policy.
Park and Moon said the matter must be reviewed by parliament, an indication they want to keep the program intact ahead of the Dec. 19 presidential elections.
Parliamentary sources, meanwhile, said if the government does not relent on its new plan, there is a chance the stand-off may drag on until a new presidential is elected.
Under South Korean law, parliament can make unilateral cuts to the budget, but can only increase spending with government consent.
They said if an impasse occurs, lawmaker can pressure the government by making unilateral cuts in other state programs. (Yonhap)