Amid Legal Affairs Committee Chair Disputes, Ruling Party Proposes Bills to Abolish Systematic Review Successively

Standing Committee Proposes Bill to Abolish 'Whip Consultation' Clause

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 8th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] As the ruling and opposition party leaderships clash over the chairmanship of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Democratic Party lawmakers are pressuring the United Future Party by consecutively proposing amendments to the National Assembly Act to abolish the committee's authority to review the system and wording of bills. A bill to delete the clause requiring 'consultation with the floor leader' in standing committee activities was also proposed.

According to the National Assembly bill information system on the 8th, Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Ik-pyo proposed an amendment to the National Assembly Act on the 5th to rename the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to the Judiciary Committee and to abolish the system of reviewing the system and wording of bills by the committee. Hong explained, "The review authority of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee exceeds its scope, resulting in essential content of bills approved by the relevant standing committees being modified or intentionally stalled due to political interests," adding, "The review of system and wording should be conducted by a separate body within the National Assembly." Lawmaker Lee Jung-moon also proposed an amendment to abolish the system, stating, "By abolishing the system of reviewing the system and wording by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, we aim to improve the efficiency of National Assembly operations," and "The National Assembly Secretariat's opinion can be sought regarding the system and wording of the relevant bills."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lawmaker Kim Byung-wook proposed an amendment to delete the clause requiring consultation with the floor leader. Currently, the National Assembly Act's automatic bill submission clause stipulates that if the committee chair consults with the floor leader, the bill will not be submitted if 30 days pass after referral to the standing committee. However, if this amendment passes, the bill must be reviewed by the standing committee unconditionally after 30 days, regardless of consultation with the floor leader.

If the proposed amendments to the National Assembly Act pass, cases where bills fail to be submitted to the relevant standing committee due to 'failed consultation with the floor leader' or where bills pass the standing committee but are rejected by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and thus do not reach the plenary session will disappear. In the 20th National Assembly, the Political Affairs Committee effectively became a dormant committee, and the comprehensive amendment to the Fair Trade Act was not reviewed. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the 'gateway' to the plenary session, held only 25 meetings in the 20th National Assembly, about half the number of 45 meetings held in the 19th National Assembly, due to clashes between the ruling and opposition parties.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmakers also submitted an amendment to the National Assembly Act specifying year-round convening of the National Assembly. Lawmaker Ahn Min-seok proposed an amendment to convene a temporary session every month and to mandatorily open plenary sessions for bill review during the session. The amendment also includes provisions for disciplinary actions such as expulsion or suspension of attendance for more than 60 days by the National Assembly Ethics Special Committee if a member's absence rate exceeds 30%.

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