With less than two weeks remaining until the deadline to approve next year’s government budget, negotiations in the National Assembly are being stalled, while some lawmakers have been accused of trying to enact legislation designed to funnel money into their constituencies.

The mandated deadline for the National Assembly to approve the budget is Dec. 2. They agreed to advance the schedule to Nov. 22 in consideration of the Dec. 19 presidential election.

The Democratic United Party has demanded that 3-4 trillion won ($2.7-3.7 billion) from the total budget of 343 trillion won be set aside for realizing the new president’s campaign pledges. The ruling Saenuri Party has opposed the measure, claiming that the budget is for use by the central government, not the president.

“Nearly all past administrations in their first year took on projects through revising the supplementary budget, which added financial burdens,” said Choi Jae-sung, a DUP lawmaker who is a member of the congressional budget committee. “Setting aside a budget for the president is an attempt to shovel off the burden using the National Assembly’s ability to cut budgets.”

The Saenuri Party has been resisting the measure, claiming that it violates the budgetary mandate established by the constitution.

“The proposal to create a preparatory budget to allow the president to freely spend 3 trillion to 4 trillion won amounts to the National Assembly giving up its job of managing the government budget,” said Lee Chul-woo, the Saenuri Party’s floor speaker.

Budget talks have also been stalled in other areas. On the National Defense Committee, the DUP demanded nullification of the budget that had been set aside for a planned naval base on Jeju Island, while the Saenuri Party has stood steadfast in support.

On the Health and Welfare Committee, the Saenuri Party demanded increasing the budget for nursery care across the social strata, while the DUP has called for increasing the budget for free lunch meals for students.

Meanwhile, during the impasse, lawmakers came under fire for hurriedly pushing for a series of pork barrel projects.

The proposed legislation on provincial government buildings would require all costs related to the construction of a new building and the renovation of the old to be paid by the central government.

Another proposed piece of legislation in preparation for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade also requires the central government to increase its financial subsidy for the construction and renovation of stadiums from 30 percent to 75 percent. The expected price tag to be paid by the central government is 1.7 trillion won.

Budget experts say that such a drain on the central government’s purse, instead of relying on the provincial government’s available budget, will impair the fiscal health of the nation. Several economic forecasts predict next year’s growth to be lower than government predictions, and consequently tax collection could be more than 2 trillion won lower than expected.

“The reality of regional governments’ poor fiscal health should be solved by increasing their finances,” said Hyun Jung-taek, a professor in international trade and commerce at Inha University. “Paying everything with the central government’s subsidy is not right.”

By Samuel Songhoon Lee (songhoon@heraldcorp.com)