The ruling and the opposition parties continued their discussions regarding the handling of next year’s budget this morning, but they could not narrow their differences on the main issues included in the mediation plan of the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Ho-young Joo, floor leader of People’s Power, and Hong-geun Park, floor leader of the Democratic Party, held closed door discussions for about an hour with Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho at the National Assembly from 11:00 am today.
After the talks, Joo Nae-nae said, “We still haven’t narrowed our differences on the issue of lowering the top corporate tax rate and the budget for the police department and the personnel information management team of the Ministry of Justice.”
However, with the exception of the two issues, it was explained that it was a situation where the opposition parties and the disagreement had been narrowed to a certain extent.
In response to the question, “Do you still want to accept a 3 percentage point cut in the top corporate tax rate?” Joo Nae-nae said, “I cannot disclose the details of the negotiations, but our party believes that a cut corresponding to the 3-percentage point originally requested by the government is possible.” It should be a situation,” he explained.
In addition, he said, “I expect that there will be discussions regarding the budget bill at the high-ranking party and government meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office today at 2:00 pm, but I do not know the details.”
Democratic Party leader Park Hong-geun told reporters, “The government and the ruling party have not yet officially announced that they will not accept the chairman’s arbitration offer, so we are in the process of persuade.”
