(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporters Go Dong-wook, Lee Jeong-hyun and Hwang Yoon-ki = President Lee Jae-myung met with National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik and others prior to his speech on next year's budget on the 2nd and requested bipartisan cooperation in the National Assembly.
At around 9:40 a.m. on this day, President Lee and Chairman Cho had a friendly chat with Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok, floor leader Han Byeong-do, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk, and Cho Kuk Innovation Party leader Shin Jang-sik in the National Assembly speaker's reception room.
Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae of the Supreme Court, President of the Constitutional Court Kim Sang-hwan, and Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection Kim Ho-cheol were also present.
President Lee shook hands with Chief Justice Cho, who visited the meeting, and asked, “How are you?” He greeted Director Kim by saying, “Nice to meet you.”
He also greeted CEO Kim Min-seok, saying "Nice to meet you," and especially smiled at CEO Jang Dong-hyuk, saying, "It's nice to meet you. I see you often on TV..."
At this event, Chairman Cho said, "The 2027 budget, the largest ever, will contain a lot of effort to make a major transition in artificial intelligence (AI), which is a national topic, and to restore people's livelihood," and added, "The National Assembly also feels a sense of responsibility along with the expectations of the people."
He added, "The ruling and opposition parties will do their best to carefully review the bill to ensure that it is effectively used, and to ensure that it is handled within the legal deadline set by the Constitution."
In response, President Lee explained, "This budget is surprisingly large, and if you look at the contents, it makes it possible to run the country almost without issuing new government bonds." He added, "The economic volume of the Republic of Korea has grown tremendously."
He added, “Because the real growth rate is very high, we have placed emphasis on laying the foundation for continued growth and continuous improvement in people’s lives accordingly.”
He also said, "The People Power Party's claim that 'the increased finances should be used to repay debt' has some validity, but when looking into the future, if it is useful in laying the foundation for sustainable growth, it is right to invest for the future." He also said, "Contrary to concerns, the national debt ratio is actually falling, so there is no need to worry much about the fiscal debt issue."
He said, "I ask you to understand that this is the result of constant consideration of what is desirable for the people," and suggested, "It is good to compete, but it should not lead to war. Wouldn't it be better if we showed the people that we are engaging in rational competition for a better world?"
However, differences of opinion were exposed with the opposition party over the future response fund.
Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, reportedly expressed concern in a strong tone about the difficulty of cooperation, saying in a friendly chat, "There is a problem with the Future Response Fund. Public officials are also embarrassed by this type of budget that is not controlled by the National Assembly."
Shin Jang-sik, leader of the Fatherland Innovation Party, is also reported to have said, "In the case of funds, they are controlled by the National Assembly, and 20% of them are at the government's discretion, but for the Future Response Fund, the discretion has been increased to 30%. That is why this is something that the National Assembly must carefully examine."
It is known that President Lee reacted to this by asking whether it would already be controlled.
