South Korea's opposition party boycotts president's budget speech
South Korea's opposition lawmakers boycotted President Yoon Suk-yeol's first budget speech to parliament to protest against a criminal probe surrounding the opposition leader, in an escalating battle of wills that could complicate deliberations.
Yoon mapped out details of the 639 trillion won ($445 billion) proposal for next year to a half-empty National Assembly hall that was missing members of the Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the 300-strong parliament.
Yoon has already been weakened politically by a series of gaffes and controversies, which overshadowed his first major overseas tour last month and have knocked his approval ratings lower, inviting scathing criticism from some lawmakers within his own People Power Party.
The opposition's ire was piqued when prosecutors raided its headquarters in Seoul as part of a long-running investigation into suspected corruption involving property deals.
Several of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's former and current confidants have been arrested on charges they took more than 800 million won in illegal political contributions from developers to aid Lee's presidential campaign when it was launched last year.
Yoon's speech called for swift passage of the budget with bipartisan support, to ease households' economic hardship and improve people's livelihoods.
