S.Korea's opposition boycotts Yoon budget speech in battle of wills

South Korea's opposition lawmakers boycotted President Yoon Suk-yeol's first budget speech to parliament on Tuesday 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 2023 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's conservative government will need the Democrats' support to fund spending on a post-coronavirus recovery.

Yoon has already been weakened politically by a series of gaffes and controversies, which overshadowed his first major overseas tour in September 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 on Monday 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 that they took more than 800 million won in illegal political contributions from developers to aid Lee's presidential campaign when it was launched in 2021.

Lee, who narrowly lost the election to Yoon in March, has denied any wrongdoing, while Yoon's office said it has not played a role in any criminal investigations.

The Democrats have accused Yoon, himself a former prosecutor-general, of ordering the investigation to stifle opposition. They demanded an apology, while threatening to boycott the budget speech. Yoon refused, saying on Monday that attaching any conditions to attendance at his speech would be "unprecedented in our constitutional history."