The Democratic Party of Korea said it would speed up its review as soon as the government's supplementary budget to respond to the recent Middle East crisis is prepared. The party argued that Korea's national liability is among the soundest in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and urged the People Power Party to cooperate in passing the supplementary budget bill.
Jung Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party, said at the supreme council meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 16th that the fastest-ever passage of a supplementary budget bill was in May last year, 10 days after it was submitted to the National Assembly, and added, "We will push as fast as possible this time as well to break that record."
He went on, "Full-fledged discussions are underway to draw up a supplementary budget to mitigate the shock from the situation in the Middle East and support people's livelihoods, including the self-employed and small business owners," and said, "It is urgent to support refiners, distributors, logistics companies, and exporters struggling with rising oil prices, and to protect small business owners, the self-employed, farmers and fishers, and low-income people."
Jung also said, "There is no ruling or opposition party when it comes to people's livelihoods. The People Power Party's reckless remark about sprinkling taxpayer money for election purposes looks down on the public," adding, "Do not distort the government's efforts to revive the economy and livelihoods with 'Yeouido grammar'; join in actively."
He continued, "In fact, Korea's national liability-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is quite sound among OECD countries," and said, "We are not proposing to issue Government Bonds for a supplementary budget; we are proposing to draw it up based on expected tax revenue increases. Opposing this simply repeats the habit the People Power Party kept for three years under Yoon Suk-yeol's prosecutorial dictatorship."