The ‘get-to-know’ meeting between the policy chairs of the two major parties was postponed on the 4th. The final negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties regarding the first supplementary budget proposed by Lee Jae-myung's government fell through, and when the ruling Democratic Party of Korea announced its intention to handle the supplementary budget alone in the plenary session that day, the People Power Party reacted in opposition. The People Power Party criticized that “the core reason for the failure of this supplementary budget negotiation is the ruling party's refusal to apologize for special operation expenses.”
The policy chair of the Democratic Party of Korea, Jin Sung-jun, and the policy chair of the People Power Party, Kim Jeong-jae, decided to postpone the get-to-know meeting scheduled for that day at the National Assembly.
Analyses indicate that the failure of the supplementary budget negotiations had an impact. Immediately after the cancellation of the meeting, the policy chair said to reporters, “(From the People Power Party) an emergency general meeting was convened because the review of the supplementary budget had not reached a final agreement, and due to the necessity of attending, it was unavoidable to adjust the get-to-know meeting time.” He added, “I think this is a backlash due to the failure to reach a smooth conclusion on the supplementary budget.”
It was expected that discussions on collaboration and cooperation would take place based on the common pledges from the last presidential election, as well as an exchange of opinions on legislative tasks where there are differences between the ruling and opposition parties.
Earlier, the negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties regarding the supplementary budget ultimately fell through. The day before, Lee So-young, a Democratic Party lawmaker and the vice-chair of the Special Committee on Budget & Accounts, along with Park Hyung-soo, a member of the People Power Party, held a 'small committee' and moved forward with final negotiations on the supplementary budget, but they were unable to narrow their differences and the talks broke down around 1:30 a.m. The Democratic Party reported that issues related to the increase of special operation expenses and the government funding ratio for the issuance of regional love gift certificates were contentious.
On the other hand, the People Power Party's position is that the core reason for the failure of the supplementary budget negotiations is the Democratic Party's dual attitude regarding special operation expenses and refusal to apologize.
Song Eon-seok, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said during a back briefing after the general assembly that morning, “We have pointed out the problem with consumer coupons as a populist policy from a fundamental perspective,” adding, “However, regarding the content of increasing support amounts for non-capital areas or regions with declining populations and addressing the local government burden with central government funding, I thought we could find some common ground if it is necessary for people's livelihoods.”
He continued, “When we actually negotiated, there was no discussion at all regarding special operation expenses,” stating, “We requested an apology for the change in the dual standards shown by the Democratic Party, which unilaterally cut the special operation expenses entirely during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, saying ‘it is absolutely necessary’ after the government changed. However, the ruling party said it could not apologize, which led to the breakdown of negotiations.”
The floor leader added, “The Democratic Party claims that it was the disagreement over the increase of consumer coupons that led to the breakdown, but in reality, we demanded reflection and an apology regarding the reduction of special operation expenses, which was not accepted, leading to the breakdown of negotiations.”
The People Power Party's position is that negotiations can only resume if the Democratic Party officially apologizes to the public regarding the complete cut of special operation expenses last year. The ruling party has refused this, and while they plan to attend the plenary session at 2 p.m. that day, they have decided not to participate in the vote on the supplementary budget. The party leadership plans to visit the presidential office immediately after the general assembly to convey a letter of protest condemning the Democratic Party's refusal to apologize.