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Asia Today reporter Song Ui-ju = Lawmakers, including People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik, chant slogans condemning President Lee Jae Myung ahead of his policy speech on the 2027 budget proposal on the steps of the National Assembly's Rotunda Hall on Nov. 2.

"We condemn the slush-fund budget that ignores the national debt and destroys the future."

More than 100 lawmakers from the People Power Party (PPP) shouted the slogan loudly enough to echo throughout the National Assembly's Rotunda Hall as President Lee Jae Myung entered the main building on Nov. 2, returning to the National Assembly for the first time in about six months.

Holding placards reading "Stop intimidating the judiciary! Defend judicial independence" and "1,400 trillion won in national debt + 162 trillion won in future debt-burden fund," the lawmakers maintained their protest from the moment Lee entered until he moved to the National Assembly Speaker's reception room.

The scene at the National Assembly that day was little different from Lee's visit in April, when PPP lawmakers strongly protested his arrival at the Rotunda Hall ahead of his policy speech on a supplementary budget. It was a repeat of the opposition lawmakers' disrespectful reception of the president.

Lee held preliminary talks for approximately 15 minutes with National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik, leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the president of the Constitutional Court, among others, before heading directly to the plenary chamber.

As soon as Lee entered the chamber, lawmakers from the Democratic Party (DP) welcomed him with applause and cheers, in sharp contrast to the atmosphere when he first entered the National Assembly's main building. Lee shook hands with DP lawmakers one by one before taking the podium.

For approximately 23 minutes, Lee personally explained to lawmakers from both parties the reasons for and key details of the government's budget proposal for next year. He outlined the principles guiding the proposal, including prioritizing fiscal spending over tax expenditures and giving preferential treatment to local regions to promote balanced national development, and called for their cooperation.

In particular, Lee also emphasized the need for the Future Response Fund, over which the ruling and opposition parties disagree.

Throughout Lee's speech, DP lawmakers expressed their support with exclamations of admiration and 30 rounds of applause, demonstrating their willingness to help realize the government's vision.

PPP lawmakers, by contrast, largely remained silent, although some shouted, "Resume the trial," during the speech. At one point, Lee briefly stopped speaking, interrupting his address for approximately 40 seconds.

PPP lawmakers left the plenary chamber together immediately after the president finished his speech. The atmosphere was markedly different from that of his April policy address, when Lee shook hands and chatted with opposition lawmakers after speaking.

The scene visibly demonstrated how the opposition's hostility toward the president had deepened over the past seven months. DP lawmakers, meanwhile, smiled and continued holding Lee's hand as they saw him off.

Immediately after the president's speech, the PPP continued its political offensive, denouncing the address as a "declaration of destruction of the future."

In a statement, PPP chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said, "President Lee Jae Myung's policy speech at the National Assembly was not a blueprint for restoring people's livelihoods, but a declaration of irresponsible fiscal gambling that stakes the future of the Republic of Korea."

"It was a 'declaration of war against the people' that seeks to pass an astronomical debt burden on to the next generation, and a 'declaration of destruction of the Republic of Korea's future' that will undermine fiscal soundness," he added.

                                                                                                             Kim Dong-min