Sim Jae-cheol: "No Agreement on One-Point Plenary Session... It's a Distortion and Unreasonable Demand by the Democratic Party"

“Ruling Party Lenient Toward North Korea... Strict Only with Elected Officials Who Are Defectors”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Shim Jae-cheol, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the United Future Party, stated on the 6th regarding the National Assembly plenary session, “Speaker Moon Hee-sang and Lee In-young, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, are pressuring to pass the national initiative constitutional amendment proposal on the 8th,” adding, “The United Future Party has not agreed to a one-point plenary session.”

At the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Floor Leader Shim said, “The agreement to convene the plenary session is a distortion and coercion by the Democratic Party,” and “The reversal of the agreement is not true. I express regret over the distortion of my statement that it would be reviewed in principle.”

He pointed out, “What kind of constitutional amendment discussion are they trying to have amid the economic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19)? Moreover, there were no prior discussions related to the constitutional amendment, and no public consensus has been formed at all,” and “Speaker Moon said he would convene the plenary session ex officio and submit the constitutional amendment proposal. Since the legislative schedule has not been agreed upon, attempting to submit it ex officio is an abuse of authority.”

He continued, “The Democratic Party says they want to handle the backlog of bills next week. While the 20th National Assembly should wrap up properly, there should be no rushed or slapdash handling,” and added, “Party-affiliated standing committee secretaries should be mindful to ensure that no hasty reviews occur in each standing committee.”

Regarding the Democratic Party’s strong criticism of Tae Yong-ho, United Future Party, and Ji Sung-ho, People Power Party electees, who raised rumors about North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un’s health, Floor Leader Shim criticized, “Why do they demand apologies from opposition party members but not demand apologies and measures to prevent recurrence for North Korea’s shooting at our military’s guard post (GP)?”

Floor Leader Shim said, “The Democratic Party is infinitely lenient toward the North Korean regime but strict only with electees who are defectors,” and “Although it is true that the statements of the two electees turned out to be inaccurate and disappointed the public, the ruling party’s collective attitude of exclusion and rejection has clearly crossed the line.”

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