South Korea opposition party plans to pass budget Bill that sparked martial law
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Protesters holding placards calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, outside the national assembly in Seoul on Dec 9.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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SEOUL – South Korea’s main opposition party said on Dec 10 it would pass a government budget Bill for 2025 that triggered President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law decree last week, at a plenary session scheduled to be held later in the day.
The opposition-controlled Parliament cut in November 4.1 trillion won (S$3.8 billion) from the government’s proposed 677.4 trillion won budget.
“We will pass the budget Bill today,” Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said. “A swift passage of the Bill will help resolve the current uneasiness and crisis.”
The government says the budget cut will paralyse basic government functions, hinder responses to external challenges and delay policy measures for small businesses and the vulnerable.
Mr Yoon cited opposition obstructionism over government budgets as one justification for his martial law decree on Dec 3
Senior Democratic Party lawmaker Park Chan-dae said that if the government needed money for “spending for people’s livelihoods, it can be solved later through an extra budget”.
“If finalised, that will ease uncertainty, but the market is seen reacting somewhat sensitively and emotionally to the comments about extra budget,” said Mr Kong Dong-rak, a fixed-income analyst at Daishin Securities. REUTERS
