Yeo "Submit the list of standing committee members"... United "No negotiation, only threats"

D-day for Standing Committee Formation Legal Deadline... Tense Standoff Between Ruling and Opposition Parties
Ruling Party Signals Forceful Election of Committee Chair... Opposition Strongly Protests

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyemin, Son Seonhee, Jeon Jinyoung] As the ruling and opposition parties engage in a tense standoff over the first organization of the 21st National Assembly, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has raised tensions by announcing its intention to push ahead with the election of standing committee chairs.

With neither side willing to concede even an inch over the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the DPK is prepared to elect the standing committee chairs unilaterally if the parties fail to reach an agreement. Following the opening of the assembly on the 5th and the legal deadline for organization on the 8th, the party aims to create a "working National Assembly." The United Future Party (UFP) strongly opposes this, calling it "tantamount to a declaration of dictatorship by the ruling party in the National Assembly."

◆ Ruling party signals intention to push ahead with standing committee chair elections... submits committee member list first = The DPK leadership reiterated its determination to organize the standing committees within the day.

DPK leader Lee Hae-chan said at the Supreme Council meeting, "A truly working National Assembly can only be completed once the standing committees are formed," adding, "The National Assembly must complete the formation of standing committees today and promptly begin overcoming the 'coronavirus national crisis.'" He characterized the UFP's demand for the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee as "foot-dragging," warning, "The opposition's illegal and improper negotiation stance will never yield results," and urged, "As the party that suffered a major defeat in the last election, the opposition must engage in self-reflection."

Floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon also stated, "We must complete the organization within the legal deadline and swiftly push forward crisis response measures such as the third supplementary budget," adding, "The DPK will never make the mistake of missing the golden time to overcome the national crisis due to disputes over committee allocations."

Immediately after the meeting, the DPK held a party caucus and agreed to complete the formation of standing committees at the plenary session at 4 p.m. that day. Subsequently, they submitted the list of members for the 18 standing committees to the National Assembly Secretariat, pressuring the opposition to cooperate.

Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 8th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

◆ Strong opposition protest... demands agreement on committee size before submitting member list = On the other hand, UFP floor leader Joo Ho-young strongly protested, saying, "There was no negotiation from the start, only threats."

At a morning meeting, he sharply criticized, "The DPK intends to take away the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. If we agree, they might share standing committee chairs with the UFP, but if we refuse, they threatened to take all 18 committees."

Regarding the ruling party's pressure to submit the committee member list, he effectively rejected it, stating that adjustments to the number of committee members must come first. Floor leader Joo said, "The number of members allocated to each standing committee must be decided, but due to changes in the number of lawmakers, the situation is unclear," and insisted, "The Speaker and the ruling party should make a decision, but a special committee should be formed first to determine the committee sizes."

The UFP submitted a proposal to the Speaker on the formation of a "Special Committee on the Revision of Rules Regarding the Number of Standing Committee Members" that morning. They plan to hold a party caucus at 2 p.m. to discuss response measures.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Ruling and opposition parties attempt last-minute agreement at Speaker-led meeting... pivotal moment for dramatic resolution=The ruling and opposition parties will meet again at 1:30 p.m. under the chairmanship of Speaker Park Byeong-seug to attempt an agreement.

Speaker Park will decide whether to convene a plenary session for the election of standing committee chairs based on the results of party caucuses and negotiations. However, given the significant differences between the parties, the consensus is that the possibility of agreement is slim. The previous day, the floor leaders met but only confirmed their differing positions.

Ultimately, if Speaker Park judges negotiations to be difficult and convenes the plenary session, the DPK is likely to push ahead with the vote for standing committee chairs leveraging its 177 seats. However, since the opposition's list of committee members has not been submitted, even if the chairs are elected, the standing committees are unlikely to operate normally for the time being.

Although committee members can be assigned by the Speaker's authority, Speaker Park, who claims neutrality, faces the burden of opposition protests. Therefore, there is also the possibility of postponing the plenary session to observe the results of further negotiations between the parties.

Meanwhile, as the organization of the assembly is delayed, the schedule for the opening ceremony of the 21st National Assembly is also uncertain. Consequently, President Moon Jae-in's inaugural speech to the National Assembly, which will occur only once during his term, is also being delayed. Since the opening ceremony involves not only President Moon but also the Speaker and other top officials of the five branches of government, even if negotiations are dramatically resolved on the day, it is unlikely that the ceremony will be held immediately.

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