South Korea opposition party plans to pass government budget bill today

South Korea's main opposition party said on Tuesday it would pass a government budget bill for 2025 that triggered President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law decree last week, at a plenary session scheduled to be held later in the day. 

The opposition-controlled parliament last month cut 4.1 trillion won from the government's proposed 677.4 trillion won ($473 billion) budget. 

"We will pass the budget bill today," Democratic Party Leader Lee Jae-myung said. "A swift passage of the bill will help resolve the current uneasiness and crisis." The government says the budget cut will paralyse basic government functions, hinder responses to external challenges and delay policy measures for small businesses and the vulnerable. 

 

President Yoon cited opposition obstructionism over government budgets as one justification for his martial law decree on Dec. 3, which triggered a constitutional crisis in Asia's fourth-largest economy. 

Senior Democratic Party lawmaker Park Chan-dae said if the government needed money for "spending for people's livelihoods, it can be solved later through an extra budget". 

South Korea's treasury bond market weakened, with three-year treasury bond futures down 0.10 points at 106.79. 

"If finalised, that will ease uncertainty but the market is seen reacting somewhat sensitively and emotionally to the comments about extra budget," said Kong Dong-rak, a fixed-income analyst at Daishin Securities.