President Moon Jae-in has urged the National Assembly to end its prolonged standoff and swiftly approve the supplementary budget.
He says it's a key part of efforts to tackle youth unemployment and support regional economies hit by corporate restructuring.
Our chief CheongWaDae correspondent Moon Connyoung reports.
"We met an hour late for our weekly meeting today in hopes of allowing the Korean people to tune into the prime minister's administrative policy speech at the National Assembly. But, we now face a regrettable situation where we aren't sure when Prime Minister Lee can even address the parliament."
President Moon Jae-in began the weekly meeting of his top aides Monday an hour later than usual at 3 p.m. with what's become a one too familiar message from the president to the parliament: a plea for bipartisan support.
The president did not hide his disappointment over the political parties' failure to narrow their differences triggering cancellation of a floor session that was scheduled for earlier this afternoon... during which Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon was expected to deliver a speech on the administration's proposal for a 3-point-7 billion U.S. dollar worth supplementary budget.
It's the second extra budget to be drawn up by the Moon administration since Mr. Moon took office last year... and comes with a vow to create jobs and increase wages.
While the supplementary budget will come from surplus tax revenues and will not require issuing new government bonds, its effect in tackling the stubbornly high youth unemployment which the government sees as a developing crisis and supporting regional economies hit by corporate restructuring will be very significant... the president explained.
The South Korean leader pointed out the importance of taking the emergency spending measure in a timely manner... stressing the need for the parties to end the standoff and normalize the parliamentary session.
"I ask for the National Assembly to make the right decision based on a just cause so that the bill on the supplementary budget can be approved during this parliamentary session and the government can swiftly execute the spending."
Moon Connyoung, Arirang News, the Blue House.
