National Assembly leader requests early passage of 2015 budget bill

SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- As the rival parties' year-end budget war season is just around the corner, the National Assembly leader on Thursday asked his fellow lawmakers to meet the Dec. 2 deadline for the passage of the 2015 budget bill.

"The handling of a budget bill is the most important duty among what the National Assembly should do," Chung Eui-hwa, who leads the 300-member unicameral legislature, said in a dinner meeting with budget committee members. "Let's make a new milestone in the history of the National Assembly by passing the budget bill within the deadline set by the Constitution."

It is absurd to expect the people to abide by the law while lawmakers do not comply with the Constitution, added the four-term lawmaker from the ruling Saenuri Party.

In November, the National Assembly is scheduled to begin full-fledged discussions on the budget issue.

Like those in many other nations, South Korea's parliament is notorious for year-end budget wars. No bill has been passed by the legal deadline since 2002.

Rep. Lee Choon-suk, senior member of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, promised efforts to meet the deadline this year.

But he stressed the importance of scrutinizing next year's budget bill, which calls for a 5.7 percent on-year increase in government spending to 376 trillion won ($355 billion).
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