On the morning of the 18th, the ruling and opposition parties held the fourth national policy consultation chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly at 11 a.m. to discuss issues including pension reform and the supplementary budget. They agreed to discuss the phrase 'agreement processing by the ruling and opposition parties' later and decided to demand that the government submit a supplementary budget proposal by the end of this month.
On that day, Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-sik and the People Power Party's floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, chairman of the policy committee Kim Sang-hun, floor leader Park Hyung-soo, floor leader Park Chan-dae of the Democratic Party, policy committee chairman Jin Sung-jun, and floor leader Park Seong-jun met in the Speaker's office to attempt to reach an agreement on key issues.
During the discussions between the ruling and opposition parties, there were moments when the raised voices of officials from both parties were heard outside the Speaker's office while discussing the pension reform special committee's formation plan.
Earlier, the two parties agreed on an insurance premium rate of 13% and an income replacement rate of 43% regarding the parameter reform, but they could not narrow their differences over inserting the 'agreement processing phrase' in the formation of the National Assembly's pension reform special committee. As a result, it is expected that the pension reform proposal will be difficult to pass at the National Assembly's plenary session scheduled for the 20th.
About an hour after the discussions between the ruling and opposition parties began, the expressions of the officials from both parties were gloomy.
In particular, there was a sharp division between the ruling and opposition parties over including the phrase in the pension reform special committee formation plan. The People Power Party emphasized that the phrase 'agreement processing by the ruling and opposition parties' was included in the 21st National Assembly's pension reform special committee. In contrast, the Democratic Party argued that including the phrase would give the acting authority Che Choong-won a pretext to exercise a veto.
Park Hyung-soo, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said, 'Regarding the pension reform special committee, we agreed to decide together whether to include the phrase 'agreement processing by the ruling and opposition parties' after resolving military service credits and childbirth credits in the standing committee.' He added, 'When we announced the existing 21st pension reform special committee, there was a phrase that said an agreement would be processed between the ruling and opposition parties, and it's hard to understand why the Democratic Party insists on removing that phrase now.'
Park Seong-jun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said, 'By not reaching an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, the People Power Party is giving the acting authority Che Choong-won a pretext to exercise a veto.' He also noted, 'Including the agreement processing phrase can only be interpreted as giving legitimacy to the acting authority.' He argued, 'The fundamental principle of democracy is that if there is no consensus or agreement, the majority rule should prevail.'
In response, Park Hyung-soo countered, 'Would we have included the agreement processing phrase in the last 21st National Assembly without knowing the principles of democracy?'
Regarding the supplementary budget, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to demand that the government submit a supplementary budget proposal this month, but their positions were subtly different.
Park Hyung-soo stated, 'We agreed that both parties would jointly request the government to prepare and submit it by the end of this month, if possible,' but he added, 'The authority to prepare the supplementary budget fundamentally belongs to the government, so the ruling and opposition parties cannot force the government to submit it by any specific deadline; however, we will try to have the supplementary budget proposal submitted by the end of this month.'
Park Seong-jun emphasized, 'It is necessary to prepare and push the supplementary budget quickly, but the Democratic Party pointed out that the government is being passive and making no progress at all.' He said, 'By March, the government should prepare the supplementary budget to facilitate negotiations.'