Rival parties continue standoff over 2010 budget

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Yonhap) -- The fate of the government's 2010 budget bill remained
uncertain Monday as rival parties continued a five-day standoff over a slew of
issues, including the proposed four-river restoration project supported by the
ruling party.

Initially proposed by President Lee Myung-bak, the project calls for the
government to spend 3.5 trillion won (US$2.98 billion) by 2012 to restore the
country's four major rivers -- the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan -- in order to
prevent floods and cope with water shortages.
The dispute has caused the National Assembly to go well beyond its initial
deadline of Dec. 2 to pass the proposed budget, which calls for a 2.5 percent
increase from this year's spending to 291.8 trillion won.
The four-river restoration project is widely seen as a replacement of the
president's earlier "grand canal" scheme, which called for a network of
cross-country waterways but was scrapped due to immense public opposition and
criticism from environmental and opposition groups.
While supporters say the river project will help prevent floods, which cost the
nation an average of 2.7 trillion won per year in damages and 4.3 trillion won
per year in repairs, opponents argue the plan is not economically viable and will
wreak havoc on the environment.
Resistance to the plan led the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) to stage a
sit-in that has entered its fifth day in the chamber of parliament's special
committee on the budget and accounts to prevent the ruling Grand National Party
(GNP) from unilaterally green-lighting the bill for a plenary session vote.
As a compromise, the DP is pushing to decrease the size of the river project
budget to 1 trillion won, with the money saved to go toward welfare and education
programs.
Observers say they are concerned that the current parliamentary standoff could
escalate and lead to violent clashes similar to those seen in December of last
year, during which sledgehammers and fire extinguishers were used as lawmakers
battled over a bill on a free trade agreement with the U.S.
"The DP's illegal protest is a serious act which could degrade the nation as a
result," Chung Mong-joon, head of the GNP, said during a meeting with senior
party leaders.
DP Chairman Chung Sye-kyun demanded that President Lee agree to hold a three-way
meeting with himself and the leadership of the two rival parties to hammer out a
compromise over the river project.
"I hope to listen to the president's ideas and also deliver to him the people's
thoughts. I want to hold deep discussions on the four-river project and other
pending issues," Chung said while meeting with senior DP officials.
Kim Hyung-o, the parliamentary speaker, urged the DP to immediately disband the
sit-in, while calling for leaders of both sides to engage in dialogue without
preconditions to pass the budget bill before the end of the year, according to
his spokesman.
The speaker, despite his authority to call an immediate vote on the bill, does
not at the moment plan to put it up for a plenary vote, said National Assembly
spokesman Heo Yong-beom.
The two rival parties later in the day agreed to hold a three-day plenary session
from Dec. 29 to vote on bills that were not processed in the past session, such
as a bill to extend the dispatch of troops to waters off Somalia.
They reportedly agreed to "cooperate" on passing the budget bill within the year,
but failed to make any promises due to opposition from the DP.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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