Ruling and Opposition Parties at an Impasse Over Standing Committee Chairmanship... Will There Be a Dramatic Negotiation a Day Before?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] With only one day left until the legal deadline of the 8th for the standing committee chairpersons to be elected, the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties are holding a last-minute meeting. Attention is focused on whether the ruling and opposition parties, who continue a fierce battle without any concession over the position of the Judiciary Committee Chairperson, can reach a dramatic agreement.

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok and floor leaders Kim Tae-nyeon and Joo Ho-young will meet at 5 p.m. on the 7th to negotiate the formation of the committees.

Earlier, the three also met on the 5th, the day Speaker Park was elected, to discuss the committee formation negotiations. Speaker Park stated, "If an agreement on the committee formation is not reached soon, a decision will be made according to the principles."

The biggest reason the Democratic Party and the United Future Party have not reached an agreement is the Judiciary Committee Chairperson position. The Democratic Party argues that the ruling party should take the Judiciary Committee Chairperson position, breaking the convention that the opposition party has held it. They claim that the opposition party has abused the Judiciary Committee’s systematic and detailed review functions to obstruct progress. Furthermore, they are pressuring to take all the other standing committees as well, citing the need to reflect the public will that gave them 177 seats.

On the other hand, the opposition party points out that if they do not hold the Judiciary Committee, the means to properly check and balance will disappear, rendering the National Assembly’s fundamental role of "monitoring and checking the executive branch" meaningless. They also argue that if the systematic and detailed review functions do not operate properly, it will be problematic as unconstitutional laws may not be properly filtered out later. United Future Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun said, "If the ruling party’s claim to abolish the Judiciary Committee’s systematic and detailed review rights is realized, the National Assembly will not be able to filter out bills with unconstitutional elements like the 'Kim Yo-jong Act,' and it will become a 'rubber-stamp legislature' rather than a legislative body."

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