Joo Ho-young "Even with cooperation it's insufficient... If pushed through, the aftereffects will fall on the people"

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, is attending the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 1st and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kim Hye-min] Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, criticized Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, for saying "the opening of the National Assembly is not subject to negotiation," stating, "If they push it through, the aftereffects will fall on the people."

At the emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly main building on the 1st, Floor Leader Joo pointed out, "The Democratic Party's stance of 'let's follow the law' by citing the National Assembly Act is an indication of wanting to unilaterally proceed with overwhelming force."

He said, "I wonder if cooperative governance was just lip service," adding, "In a parliamentary crisis, it would be insufficient even to swiftly handle state affairs through cooperative governance, but if they push it unilaterally, the responsibility lies entirely with the Democratic Party, and the aftereffects will directly return to the people."

Floor Leader Joo explained the recent negotiation situation, saying, "Last Friday evening, the floor leaders and four chiefs from both parties had dinner for over two hours and negotiated the organization of the National Assembly. We insisted that the 18 standing committees be divided in an 11 to 7 ratio according to the proportion of lawmakers and that the committee chairs be appointed accordingly." He added, "The Democratic Party did not strongly oppose this, so we judged that they somewhat accepted the 11 to 7 ratio."

He continued, "Regarding the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Budget and Accounts Committee, we argued that based on past precedents and the principle of separation of powers, when the opposition party takes charge, these committees can function effectively. Also, when the Democratic Party was the opposition, they held these committees." He added, "The Democratic Party claimed that since they have more than 168 seats and are the majority party, the situation is different from before, and they cannot give up the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Budget and Accounts Committee."

This implies that Floor Leader Kim's remarks came amid a tense negotiation over these two committees during the organization process. Floor Leader Joo said, "The Democratic Party insisted on adhering to the legally stipulated opening date of June 5 and indicated that if no agreement is reached, they would proceed unilaterally." He added, "We clearly stated that the convention is to negotiate the opening only after the Speaker and the distribution of committee chairs are all finalized, so we cannot agree to a unilateral National Assembly that elects only the Speaker first."

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