Politics Stalls Efforts to Pass Debt-Related Legislation

The ruling and opposition parties agree on at least one thing － Korea's national debt is rising fast and will pose problems for the next administration, whichever party occupies the Blue House, unless the government acts.

The national debt, which some analysts say will reach 230 trillion won ($176.5 billion) by the end of this year, has been increasing rapidly (graph). But a four-month partisan standoff has prevented the Assembly from enacting three government finance reform bills.

Speaking separately, Representative Lee Hai-chan, the ruling party's chief policymaker and Representative Mok Yo-sang, the opposition party's chief policymaker, agreed that the situation is serious, although they agree on little else. The opposition wants the National Assembly to meet in May to deal with the financial reform bills, which have languished for five months, but the ruling party says it will boycott any such session. It complains that the only reason the opposition wants a session is to protect the party's vice president, Kang Sam-jae, whom the prosecution wants to investigate in connection with the spy fund scandal.

Of the 230 trillion won in estimated year-end 2001 government debt, 130 trillion won is in direct government borrowings and 100 trillion won in other obligations, such as government guarantees. The total is three times larger than the debt at the end of Kim Young-sam's administration, when it stood at 78 trillion won. The opposition also complains that quasi-government debt, such as obligations to pension funds, social welfare programs, the Bank of Korea's foreign currency borrowings and the currency-stabilization bond should be included in the debt figure, for a total of 1,000 trillion won by its calculations.

by Lee Soo-ho