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President Yoon Suk-yeol exits the National Assembly hall in a corridor between seats left empty by Democrats’ boycott of his budget speech on Oct. 24. (Kim Bong-gyu/The Hankyoreh)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s first budget address before the National Assembly since his inauguration was the first in Korean history to be boycotted by a major party. The 169 lawmakers in the opposition Democratic Party boycotted in protest of an investigation by prosecutors aimed at Lee Jae-myung, leader of the party.

“The ruling and opposition parties need to overlook their differences so that we can overcome the grave issues affecting our economy and national security,” Yoon said during the speech, while urging the National Assembly to pass his budget bill before the legal deadline of Dec. 2. But both the budget bill and a revision to the Government Organization Act are likely to face an uphill battle in the National Assembly given the sharpening conflict between the Democratic Party and the ruling People Power Party (PPP).

Yoon delivered his address for the 2023 budget bill on the floor of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

“Given the global trends of high prices, high interest rates and a strong dollar, the financial markets are facing growing volatility, and economic uncertainty has increased. Our government is pushing for fiscal consolidation while pursuing 'welfare for the underprivileged' to strengthen support for both them and the common people,” he stressed.

Yoon said his budget bill for next year “contains the government’s comprehensive and carefully thought-out plan for how to respond to the complex global crisis and tackle livelihood issues.”

“We’re in a tough fiscal situation. The budget deficit has rapidly increased because of lax fiscal policy that was hijacked by political objectives,” the president said.

That appeared to be a jab at the expansionary fiscal policy adopted by his predecessor, Moon Jae-in.

“We’ve drawn up our total spending next year at 639 trillion won, which would be the first time the budget has decreased year over year since 2010. That will go down as a watershed moment for fiscal soundness,” Yoon emphasized.

The presidential office said the three keywords for the government’s budget bill for next year are fiscal soundness, welfare for the underprivileged, and preparation for the future.

This is the second time that Yoon has delivered a speech before the National Assembly, following a speech he made on May 16 about a supplementary budget bill designed to compensate losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While that bill was passed with the consent of both major parties, relations between the two parties have deteriorated recently after prosecutors launched investigations targeting former President Moon Jae-in and party leader Lee Jae-myung. That’s likely to stiffen debate over future budget bills and create obstacles for bills sponsored by the government or the PPP.

While Yoon didn’t mention “cooperative governance” in his speech on Tuesday, he did say there’s an “urgent need for cooperation from the National Assembly.” But he ignored demands made by the Democratic Party and the minor progressive Justice Party prior to his speech to apologize for his use of vulgar language, which was caught on a hot mic.

When Yoon entered the main building of the National Assembly, lawmakers from the Democratic Party gathered on the stairs in front of the central hall for a “silent protest,” holding placards with slogans such as “Stop oppressing the opposition party.”

After the Democratic Party boycotted Yoon’s speech, Kim Sung-whan, head of the party’s policy committee, slammed the speech as “far too inadequate and insincere for the public to have any hopes or set any goals about how we can navigate the crises [in the global economy and climate].”

Park Hong-keun, the Democratic Party’s floor leader in the legislature, said during a meeting of party lawmakers that the budget bill would face exhaustive vetting.

“We’ll be tougher and more thorough than ever before in our review of the country’s budget bill for next year, to ensure that citizens’ taxes don’t go to waste,” Park said.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter; Lim Jae-woo, staff reporter

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