Plenary session for extra budget canceled, expected to be held Sunday

A plenary parliamentary session is in progress on May 27. Yonhap

The ruling and main opposition parties agreed Saturday to cancel a National Assembly plenary session initially expected to be held later in the day to deal with the new government's extra budget bill.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) tentatively agreed to instead hold the session at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

The PPP and the DPK have been at loggerheads for weeks over the size of the supplementary budget for compensating small businesses hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the PPP backed the government's original proposal of 36.4 trillion won ($29 billion), the DPK proposed spending of over 50 trillion won for small merchants, which includes a budget for retroactive coverage of their losses and emergency loan programs.

The two sides appear to have decided to open the session later amid failed attempts in closed discussions to narrow their differences. Earlier, the floor leaders of both parties had tentatively agreed to hold the session at 8 p.m. Saturday as they agreed to make efforts to pass the budget no later than this weekend. (Yonhap)

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