SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) pushed ahead with a budget proposal that only reflects reductions in a parliamentary budget committee session Friday, prompting ruling party lawmakers to boycott the vote and leave in protest.
The proposal railroaded by the DP during a plenary session of the parliamentary special committee on budget and accounts puts next year's budget at 677.4 trillion won (US$485.3 billion), down 4.1 trillion won from the initial plan proposed by the government.
The cut affects the whole amount flagged for special activity expenses of the presidential office's secretariat and national security office, as well as those of the prosecution, the state audit agency and the police.
It also halves the government's 4.8 trillion-won reserve fund to 2.4 trillion won.
Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party leave a plenary session of the parliamentary special committee on budget and accounts at the National Assembly in Seoul on Nov. 29, 2024. (Yonhap)
Under the Constitution, the National Assembly needs government consent to raise or add new budget items but can carry out cuts on its own.
The ruling People Power Party denounced the move as "neutralizing the functions of the prosecution, the police and the state audit agency" by cutting such budgets, claiming such a vote is only aimed at shielding DP leader Lee Jae-myung who faces several trials.
Lee is standing trial in four cases, including those on alleged subornation and allegations of involvement in an illegal cash transfer of US$8 million to North Korea and embezzlement of funds from the Gyeonggi provincial government.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok expressed "deep regret" over the vote, voicing concerns that the budget cut proposal will affect government functions, such as responding to natural disasters and conducting probes and audits.
"The main opposition's sole passage of the reduced budget proposal will result in paralyzing the nation's fundamental functions," Choi said in a statement.
The statutory deadline for approving the national budget is Dec. 2, but the National Assembly has managed to meet it only twice in the past two decades.
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