The National Assembly is set to miss the Dec. 2 deadline for handling next year’s budget, although legislators of the ruling Grand National Party on Thursday resumed deliberations without liberal opposition members.

The Constitution obliges the National Assembly to pass the national budget bill by Dec. 2 to allow 30 days of preparation for its execution. The parliament has failed to meet the deadline for the past eight years.

“We’re resuming deliberations of the budget bill today, without lawmakers of the Democratic Party, because we can’t delay the bill’s passage,” GNP Rep. Jeong Kab-yoon, the chair of the parliamentary committee on budget, said, as he opened a deliberation session Thursday morning.

The session, however, was adjourned less than an hour after its opening as DP members showed up to protest against the resumption without them.

They criticized the GNP for making no efforts to resolve the parliamentary gridlock caused by its unilateral passage of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement last month.

“The GNP didn’t even apologize for what they did with the FTA bill and is now pushing to handle the budget, using its majority status,” said DP Rep. Kang Gi-jung, who represents the DP members on the committee.

Legislators of DP and other liberal parties have boycotted all parliamentary sessions since Nov. 22 when the GNP rammed the controversial trade pact through the parliament.

“If the GNP attempts to railroad the budget bill, it will face a strong public backlash,” Rep. Kang warned.

The DP says it will return to the parliament only when the government promises an immediate renegotiation of the FTA with the U.S. and the GNP promises to take measures to prevent unilateral handling of bills in the future.

With the two main parties in a battle mode, observers said the 326 trillion won budget bill may not pass the Assembly within the current regular session, which ends Dec. 9.

By Lee Sun-young
(milaya@heraldcorp.com)