Kim Tae-nyeon and Joo Ho-young to Hold Plenary Session on the 20th... Outcomes of Their First Meeting (Comprehensive)

Past History Law Processing in Progress... Full Assembly Composition to Be Discussed in Depth After Plenary Session Ends

Kim Tae-nyeon, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the United Future Party, held their first meeting since being elected as floor leaders on the 14th at the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] The ruling and opposition parties have agreed to hold a plenary session on the 20th to pass bills including the Basic Act on the Settlement of Past Affairs for Truth and Reconciliation (Past Affairs Act). Kim Tae-nyeon, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the United Future Party, held their first meeting at the National Assembly on the 14th and reached this consensus.

Park Sung-joon, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, said in a press briefing about 30 minutes after the meeting ended, "The most important discussion was about setting the date for the plenary session," adding, "The United Future Party shared internal party circumstances, and the ruling party expressed the need to expedite the session, and they very generously and willingly agreed to hold the plenary session on the 20th."

The specific bills to be processed will be negotiated by the deputy floor leaders of both parties. However, it was reported that they have effectively agreed to pass the Past Affairs Act, which had become a last-minute point of contention. Park said, "There are about 20 organizations related to the Past Affairs Act, and regarding one of the core issues, compensation, 19 organizations expressed the opinion that they want the bill to be processed quickly regardless of the compensation issue," adding, "If compensation is not an issue, they exchanged views that it could be passed without problems at this plenary session."

The formation of the 21st National Assembly and the third supplementary budget (supplementary budget) were not discussed that day. Park said, "We agreed that the responsibility is to smoothly resolve the 20th National Assembly first and then proceed with the 21st National Assembly," adding, "The two leaders agreed to meet soon for dinner."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

After visiting Lee Hae-chan, the leader of the Democratic Party, Floor Leader Joo told reporters, "We decided to hold a plenary session on the 20th to pass all bills agreed upon by the ruling and opposition parties." Regarding the Past Affairs Act, he said, "Except for one or two organizations, related groups have stated that reactivating the Past Affairs Commission is urgent and that contentious issues can be discussed slowly," adding, "They are asking to pass the bill excluding contentious issues in this National Assembly session, so if the Democratic Party accepts that position, it will be easily passed, but if they insist, there could be problems in passing it."

Joo added, "Compensation was unilaterally included after being amended in the Public Administration and Security Committee, and I hope the intentions of those organizations are well reflected."

At the meeting, Lee Hae-chan praised Joo Ho-young as "a reasonable and amicable person" and requested cooperation, saying, "I hope the 21st National Assembly will be a parliament with much more developed parliamentary principles than the 20th National Assembly." In response, Joo said, "Since the Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the general election and has a comfortable number of seats, if they practice win-win cooperation, we will actively respond," adding, "However, since the National Assembly has a check-and-balance function according to constitutional principles, even if the Democratic Party holds the majority, I ask that the National Assembly’s fundamental functions operate well."

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