The legislative progress for an 11 trillion won ($9.8 billion) supplementary budget was caught up in an Assembly standoff over the weekend, posing last-minute challenges to its passage, which was slated for Monday.

While the ruling Saenuri Party urged a swift passage of the bill, the opposition parties insisted on clarifying suspicions of back-scratching between the government and the shipbuilding industry.

The Saenuri Party on Sunday blasted The Minjoo Party of Korea and the People’s Party for going back on their trilateral agreement to first pass the budget bill and then move on to the details of the related hearings.

“The opposition continues to hold back the budget bill, which is crucial in revitalizing the economy,” said floor spokesperson Rep. Kim Myung-yeon in a briefing.

“Considering the urgency of state budgeting, the opposition must keep its words and pass the budget bill first.”

Vice floor leader Rep. Kim Do-eup underlined that it was the opposition camp which had suggested the extra budget in the first place.

“The opposition leaders should at least offer some explanation on why they suddenly broke the agreement),“ said Kim.

The main opposition Minjoo Party accused the Saenuri of covering up for key presidential aides by dodging the related discussions.

“There is to be no floor leadership meeting today. The Saenuri Party made it clear last Thursday that it has no enthusiasm for the extra budget,” said a text message sent out by the Minjoo’s vice whip Rep. Park Wan-joo to reporters on Sunday morning.
 

Last week, the three main parties agreed to meet in a session on Aug. 22 to pass the government’s supplementary budget plan in a bid to revitalize the nation’s economy.

But the hard-struck deal was waylaid by arguments over the responsibility of some ranking government officials who are suspected of secretly plotting a massive injection of government funds into the financially struggling shipbuilding sector.

Those in question are former Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan, senior presidential secretary for policy coordination An Chong-bum and former chairman of the state-run Korea Development Bank Hong Ky-ttack.

The three officials allegedly held a secret meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in October last year and agreed to inject some 4.2 trillion won into DSME, the nation’s No. 2 shipbuilder which has been weighed down by deficits and irregularity charges.

”In order to establish effective measures, it is crucial to get down to the root cause,“ said the Minjoo‘s floor spokesperson Rep. Ki Dong-min.

”But the Saenuri is constantly looking away from the issue and shifting the blame onto the opposition.“

Amid the partisan stalemate, however, some officials speculated that parties could reach a last-minute compromise to pass the budget bill within the week.

“In order for the budget bill to take the anticipated pump-priming effect, it has to obtain parliamentary approval by Wednesday at the latest,” said an official of the National Assembly, explaining that a one or two-day delay would not cause major setbacks.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)