Lee In-young "Very Regretful Over Internet Bank Act Rejection... Will Find a Way to Pass" Official Apology

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Wondara and Jeon Jinyoung] Lee In-young, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, officially apologized to the United Future Party, saying he is "very sorry" regarding the rejection of the amendment to the "Special Act on the Establishment and Operation of Internet-Only Banks (Internet-Only Bank Act)."

At the election countermeasures meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 6th, Floor Leader Lee said, "The amendment to the Internet-Only Bank Act was rejected during the plenary session," adding, "Although the result was produced by each lawmaker's free conscience vote, I am very sorry for the confusion caused during the plenary session proceedings."

He continued, "It is ultimately very regrettable that the promise between the ruling and opposition party floor leaders in the Political Affairs Committee was not kept," and said, "After this extraordinary session of the National Assembly ends, a new session will begin, and we will find a way to pass it according to the original spirit at that time."

He also stated, "I want to make it clear that the opposition's partial 'eat-and-run backlash' and intentional interference misunderstandings are not true," and requested, "The United Future Party should magnanimously return to normalizing the National Assembly as scheduled today and cooperate in processing the remaining bills and the election district delimitation plan."

At the plenary session the previous day, the amendment to the Internet-Only Bank Act, which relaxed the qualification requirements for major shareholders of internet banks, was rejected. Out of 184 members present, 75 voted in favor, 82 against, and 27 abstained.

Following the bill's rejection, United Future Party lawmakers left the plenary hall, claiming that the ruling and opposition parties broke their agreement. They argued that the Democratic Party violated the promise to process the Financial Consumer Protection Act and the Internet-Only Bank Act together.

Shim Jae-cheol, floor leader of the United Future Party, stated, "The act of breaking the agreement and betraying trust is absolutely unforgivable." He also criticized, "The Financial Consumer Protection Act has already been 'eaten,' the Internet-Only Bank Act was blocked, and now they want to 'run away' after accomplishing their mission?this is an 'eat-and-run' operation."

The Democratic Party plans to attempt to reconvene the plenary session at 4 p.m. that day. Attention is focused on whether the "Tada Ban Act" (amendment to the Passenger Transport Service Act), delayed due to the previous day's plenary session disruption, will be processed. Additionally, the passage of the election district delimitation plan, which the National Assembly Election District Delimitation Committee will send to the National Assembly that day, is also a key issue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.