Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon urged opposition parties Thursday to normalize the National Assembly and approve a supplementary budget the government proposed earlier this month in an effort to create more jobs for young people.

The National Assembly has been idling despite the opening of an extraordinary session on April 2 as opposition parties have boycotted the session, demanding the ruling Democratic Party agree to pass a Broadcasting Act revision aimed at increasing opposition oversight of public broadcasters.

The impasse has deepened further as rival parties have quarreled over the qualifications of former lawmaker Kim Ki-sik as chief of the Financial Supervisory Service as well as over allegations that a dubious blogger linked to a key ruling party lawmaker manipulated Internet comments.

That dimmed the prospects of parliamentary approval of a 3.9 trillion won ($3.69 billion) extra budget.

"Though the April extraordinary session began, no meeting has been convened as the session is nearing its end. The extra budget proposal the government put in great efforts to draw up has never even been discussed," Lee said during a weekly policy coordination meeting.

Lee called for passing the supplementary budget as early as possible, saying unemployment rates among younger people are reaching the worst levels ever and the suffering of regional economies, where industrial restructuring is underway, is getting worse.

"We can't leave this as it is. The National Assembly should help," Lee said. "If there is anything the government did wrong, please scold us. But shouldn't they be helping regional economies?"

Despite various measures taken in the past, youth unemployment has consistently worsened due mainly to structural changes in the country's industrial, educational and labor markets. This in turn has led many young people to put off marriage, which then leads to a very low birth rate. (Yonhap)