Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do and People Power Party floor leader Song Eon-seok met in the office of the chair of the National Assembly’s Steering Committee and agreed the supplementary budget bill would be resolved in a plenary session by Friday, April 10.
Under the agreement, the March extraordinary session will run through April 2, and an April extraordinary session will convene beginning April 3.
Under that schedule, the president’s policy address related to the supplementary budget is set for April 2. On April 7–8, the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts will conduct comprehensive policy questioning and ministry-by-ministry reviews. The two parties also scheduled government-questioning sessions for April 3, 6 and 13.
Song said, “Today we agreed on the April extraordinary session schedule for the supplementary budget,” adding, “I expect the Budget and Accounts Committee will conduct in-depth, bipartisan discussions to review and negotiate the bill’s detailed contents.”
Meanwhile, the parties are still negotiating the agenda for the plenary session on the 31st.
Song said they are “working out the agenda for tomorrow’s plenary session” and expect to consider roughly 60 bills. On the 31st, the plenary is scheduled to vote on filling four currently vacant standing committee chair positions: Legislation and Judiciary; Public Administration and Safety; Climate, Environment and Labor; and Health and Welfare.
