The rival parties on Thursday tentatively agreed to pass the government’s extra budget plan, with the main opposition The Minjoo Party of Korea backing down from its earlier demand for a parliamentary hearing witness list.

The decision came hours after the ruling party, the government and the presidential office added pressure on the opposition by reiterating calls for the prompt passage of the budget bill in their trilateral meeting.

The floor leaderships of the ruling Saenuri Party, The Minjoo Party of Korea and the People’s Party agreed to put the budget bill to parliamentary vote next Tuesday, the three party said in a joint statement.

The 11 trillion won ($9.83 billion) budget bill currently remains pending due to partisan feuds over whether to summon former Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and senior presidential secretary for policy coordination An Chong-bum to parliamentary hearings for a separate issue. 

The two top presidential aides, together with former chief of state-run Korea Development Bank Hong Ky-ttack, allegedly agreed in a covert meeting to provide massive state funds to the ailing shipbuilding industry.

The main opposition party, in exchange for easing up on its earlier request, has instead demanded that a public hearing be held in September on Baek Nam-gi, a farmer who is in a coma after having been knocked down by a blast from a water cannon during an anti-government protest late last year.

Earlier in the day, Saenuri chief Rep. Lee Jung-hyun urged for the swift passage of the budget bill during the trilateral meeting, saying, “I request that the opposition rise beyond partisan boundaries when it comes to the people’s livelihood.”

The gathering was the first of its sort to take place since Lee was elected to his post on Aug. 9.
 

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and presidential chief of staff Lee Won-jong reciprocated, respectively speaking for the Cabinet and for Cheong Wa Dae.

“I hope that the ruling party, government and presidential office all work together to bring the Park administration, which is not at the three-fifths mark (of its total five-year term), to a successful conclusion,” said Lee.

Along with the budget bill, the prime minister also stressed the need to pass a series of economic revitalization bills. In the list were bills aimed at reforming the labor market and establishing regulation-free zones, all of which the president has been advocating under the slogan of a creative economy.

But the issue of senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Woo Byung-woo, who is being pressured to step down over corruption scandals, was not mentioned during the meeting.

“Today’s meeting was purely on policies,” the party’s chief policymaker Rep. Kim Gwang-lim told reporters at a briefing.

Despite ongoing disputes concerning his integrity, the Blue House has so far refused to dismiss the senior aide or to accept his resignation.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)