National Assembly passes 2010 budget bill

(ATTN: UPDATES with PM's remarks and more details from 5th para)
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) on Thursday
railroaded the government's 2010 budget bill through parliament amid fierce
protests from lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP).

The Lee Myung-bak government's budget bill for next year, totaling 292.8 trillion
won (US$252.6 billion), up 2.9 percent from this year's budget of 284.5 trillion
won, was stubbornly opposed by the DP and liberal minor parties, which claimed
that excessive funding for Lee's key policy pledge to revamp the nation's four
major rivers would bring an environmental disaster and fiscal waste.
The budget bill passed the National Assembly's plenary session by 174 votes to
two with one abstention. Only lawmakers of the GNP and a conservative minor party
participated in the vote, while DP lawmakers shouted angry protest slogans around
Assembly Speaker Kim Hyung-o's podium.
The ruling party controls 169 seats in the 299-member National Assembly compared
to 87 seats held by the DP.
The ruling party's unilateral passage of the long-delayed government budget bill
came hours after GNP lawmakers convened a special budget committee in the absence
of DP lawmakers who were staging a sit-in at a parliamentary chamber in protest
over the river renovation project.
The initial deadline for the budget bill was Dec. 3.
The government's budget for next year marks a year-to-year increase of 2.9 percent.
But compared to this year's actual budget of 301.8 trillion won inclusive of its
supplementary budget, it represents a decrease of 3 percent, indicating the
government's intent not to undermine its fiscal soundness.
In the 2010 budget, expenditures related to small businesses, energy efficiency,
the welfare and health of the underprivileged, culture and tourism marked
substantial increases ranging from 200-700 billion won.
Fiscal spending on efforts to fight sexual crimes against children, improve the
welfare of rank-and-file soldiers, enhance safety on roads and in public places,
reinforce the emergency medical treatment system and build green homes was also
increased.
But budgets for the public administration sector and the inter-Korean and foreign
affairs were reduced by 800 billion and 100 billion won, respectively.
The state budget related to the four-river restoration project was also cut by 8
percent from the government's proposal of 5.2 trillion won to 4.8 trillion won.
Prime Minister Chung Un-chan told parliament after the vote that the government
will do its utmost to speed up spending on efforts to keep alive the momentum for
economic revival and elevate national competitiveness.
"The (Korean) economy has shown rapid recovery as seen in the record amount of
the current account surplus, but we can't afford to loosen tension. The
government will set out to map out plans to boost the nation's future growth
potential, expand the middle class and create quality jobs," said Chung.
"The government will make aggressive and creative efforts to keep up the economic
recovery next year. It will also make sure not a single penny of budget is
wasted, while taking measures to front-load fiscal spending," the prime minister
said.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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