By Kim Hyo-jin
Rival parties failed to endorse the 2018 budget bill by the legal deadline, Saturday, due to clashes over job creation in the public sector.
Further, it is unclear whether they will be able to narrow the gap and pass the bill within the National Assembly’s regular session, which finishes Dec. 9.
On the deadline Saturday, floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties failed to narrow their differences on some sticking points in the budget bill despite days-long discussions.
While the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) backed the government’s plan to increase 12,000 positions for public workers, mainly firefighters and police officers, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) claimed the number should be reduced to 7,000 and the minor opposition People’s Party claimed it cannot allow more than 9,000.
The opposition parties have remained skeptical of the idea, worrying about the fiscal burden of sustaining the created jobs. The DPK, however, remained steadfast, saying the figure of 10,500 jobs is the final offer.
They also clashed over the fund to be set aside for small businesses to cushion their labor cost increase from the minimum wage hike.
The opposition parties claimed the fund should be operated for a maximum of one year, but the DPK opposed fixing the period.
Strategy and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said earlier, “We plan to operate the fund temporarily but we hope to decide how to make a soft landing later next year considering economic conditions.”
After failing to meet the deadline, the rival parties passed the buck from themselves and to the other party about the delay, Sunday, showing little sign of progress in their negotiation.
“The ruling party was not willing to accept any changes in the bill because it is the first budget plan of the Moon Jae-in government,” LKP spokesman Rep. Choung Tae-ok said. “It has to take full responsibility for the delay.”
People’s Party spokesman Kim Cheol-geun joined the offensive, saying, “The deadlock was caused by the government’s push for an increase of jobs in the civil service. We called on the government and the ruling party to come to the negotiating table with an acceptable revision.”
The ruling DPK fired back at the opposition parties. “For the sake of the people, it is the Assembly’s obligation to swiftly pass the budget bill that can help the government implement new policies,” DPK spokeswoman Rep. Je Youn-kyung said. “We expect the opposition parties to cooperate.”
If the parties fail to pass the budget bill by the end of this year, the government has to rely on a provisional budget until the official budget is endorsed.
Amid growing concerns on the possibility of the government losing fiscal momentum, political watchers speculated that the ruling party might opt for making a concession in the last-minute negotiations.
The floor leaders of the parties plan to meet and discuss the budget bill again today, with the aim of putting it up for a vote during a plenary session later in the day.