▲ President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers a budget speech at the National Assembly in Seoul, in this file photo taken Oct. 25, 2022. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Yoon-budget speech

Yoon to give budget speech, meet with opposition leader Lee

SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to give a budget speech to parliament Tuesday, calling for bipartisan support for the passage of the 657 trillion-won (US$487 billion) proposal for the upcoming year.

Yoon will arrive at the National Assembly shortly before the 10 a.m. speech to meet with opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and other dignitaries in what could lead to the first conversation between the two since Yoon came into office in May 2022.

Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), decided to attend a meeting that Yoon plans to hold with the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, as well as other dignitaries, such as the Supreme Court chief justice.

The meeting is part of an annual parliamentary tradition that precedes the president's visit to parliament for a speech. In 2022, the DP boycotted Yoon's budget speech, and the meeting did not take place as a result.

Since taking office, Yoon has had only brief encounters with Lee, a former presidential contender against him, at major commemorative events and exchanged greetings and handshakes. But they have never engaged in sit-down talks.

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