South Korea’s regular parliament opens a 100-day battle over legislation, budget and hearings

South Korea’s regular parliamentary session began on Sept. 1, opening a 100-day contest over legislation, the government budget and ministerial confirmation hearings.

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We will ensure that livelihood legislation does not stop because of confirmation hearings, and that budget review is not delayed because of political disputes.

The session coincides with the political fallout from the Aug. 30 Cabinet reshuffle. The Democratic Party said hearings for nominees should not halt legislation affecting people’s livelihoods, while budget review should not be delayed by partisan conflict.

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This regular session is a golden time for the success of the Lee Jae-myung government and, further, for South Korea’s great leap forward.

Han Byeong-do, the party’s floor leader, described the session as a “golden time” for the success of the Lee Jae-myung government and a major advance for South Korea. He said legislation, budget deliberations and confirmation hearings were all too urgent to postpone, and pledged to pass the 2027 budget within the statutory deadline.

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Legislation, budget review and confirmation hearings are all so important and urgent that none can be postponed.

Han said the party would keep the door open to dialogue and negotiation but would not yield to what he called relentless political disputes and obstruction. The People Power Party, meanwhile, is preparing close scrutiny of the ministerial nominees and has labeled the government’s approximately 821 trillion won budget proposal “populist.” The competing positions have heightened tensions between the parties at the start of the session.

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We will keep the door open to dialogue and negotiation, but we will never back down from reckless political disputes and obstruction.