Updated : 2025-12-02 22:05:20 KST
Today is the deadline for South Korea's budget bill for next year to be passed, and the National Assembly has opened a plenary session today to put it to a vote. As the first annual budget bill under the Lee Jae Myung administration, all eyes are on how the vote will unfold. For more, we're joined by our political correspondent, Moon Hye-ryeon. Welcome, Hye-ryeon. Good evening, Dami. Hye-ryeon, tell us more about the vote about to unfold tonight. What can we expect? The plenary session began just a few moments ago at 8:00 PM, and it's widely expected that the budget bill will pass – albeit close to the deadline.
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poise to ~ 할 태세를 취하다
plenary session 본회의, 총회
be about to do 막 ~을 하려고 하다
albeit 비록 …일지라도
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The ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party have been at odds over various aspects of the bill, but following a series of meetings between the floor leaders, they managed to reach an agreement earlier today to process the bill at the session. It was reported that the two rival parties agreed to cut roughly 4-point-3 trillion Korean won – or around 2-point-9 billion U.S. dollars – from various sections within the government's original proposal, and to increase funding only within the scope of that cut, meaning that the overall scale of the budget bill will stay at a record 728 trillion won – just under 500 billion dollars.
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be at odds (with somebody over something) (~을 두고) (~와) 뜻이 맞지 않다
floor leader 원내총무
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They agreed not to reduce budget allocations for key national agenda items of the Lee Jae Myung administration – such as support for issuing local gift certificates and the National Growth Fund – while cutting some funding from AI-related support programs, policy funds, and reserve budget items. Increases will be made to several areas, such as funding for national scholarships and building a recovery system for the National Information Resources Service following a major fire back in September that caused widespread disruption to core national IT services. Tell us more about the process over the past few weeks leading up to this vote — what were the main points of contention between lawmakers?
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allocation 할당량[액]
local gift certificates 지역 상품권
reserve budget items 예비비 항목
disruption 붕괴, 단절
contention 논쟁, 언쟁, 주장[견해]
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The legal deadline for the national budget always falls on December 2nd because the Constitution dictates that it must be processed at least 30 days before the start of the next fiscal year, which begins on January 1st. But because the budget has always been a highly contentious piece of legislation, this is the first time in five years that lawmakers will process it by the legal deadline – if the bill passes by midnight. Here's what the floor leaders had to say. "What matters now is execution. This budget must improve people's daily lives, and the Democratic Party will take full responsibility. We'll do our best to make today's budget the starting point for tomorrow's change."
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execution 실행, 수행
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"Given the importance of livelihood-related budgets, we ask for your understanding that we agreed broadly to pass the budget by the deadline." The scale of the budget itself has been a key topic of debate as the largest annual budget in South Korea's history. As a result, the expansionary fiscal policy of the Lee administration has been a key area of conflict between the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party — accusing each other of engaging in "populism." Lawmakers also focused on President Lee's key policy pledges, such as a "rural basic income" that provides regular monetary handouts to all residents living in rural areas, regardless of their job, income or age.
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expansionary 확장[발전, 팽창]성의
populism 포퓰리즘(대중의 견해와 바람을 대변한다고 주장하는 정치 형태)
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I see, and aside from next year's budget, what other bills are on the agenda? Aside from next year's budget, lawmakers are also facing a long list of reform and budget-related bills that didn't make it to last Thursday's plenary session. Among them are amendments to the Corporate Tax Act and the Education Tax Act previously major sticking points which are now expected to pass as originally proposed by the Democratic Party and the government. The changes include a uniform one percentage-point increase in corporate tax rates across all brackets, and a hike in the education tax on financial and insurance firms earning more than one trillion won in profits, raising the rate from point-five to one percent.
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Another plenary session is set for Thursday, where the DP plans to push a bill that would allow the National Assembly's Speaker to halt a filibuster if fewer than 60 lawmakers are present, along with several other contentious measures. Thank you for your report, Hye-ryeon. We'll keep an eye out for the budget bill's vote later tonight and the next plenary session. Thank you for having me.
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National Assembly's Speaker 국회의장
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영어 원문 출처 및 동영상 링크;
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