The National Assembly convened a regular session Tuesday, with heated clashes expected between the ruling and opposition parties over next year's budget and key legislative issues. During the 100-day session, which runs through Dec. 9, lawmakers are expected to wrangle over the government's 821 trillion-won ($595 billion) budget proposal for next year and confirmation hearings for six minister nominees recently picked by President Lee Jae Myung. National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik called on lawmakers to make improving people's livelihoods their top priority, saying the country's economic growth driven by a semiconductor boom has yet to be felt by the people in their daily lives. "The first, second and third priorities are all people's livelihoods," Cho said in his opening address during a plenary session. Cho also cited artificial intelligence (AI), advanced technologies, youth, the climate crisis and peace on the Korean Peninsula as key agenda items for the country's future. "A one-year delay in legislation creates a 10-year gap," he said, urging the rival parties to swiftly handle b