Ruling and Opposition Parties Agree on Adjusting Standing Committee Numbers... Plan to Increase Welfare and Industry Committees

Kim Young-jin, Chairman of the Special Committee for the Revision of the Number of Standing Committee Members at the National Assembly, attended the special committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 9th to discuss the revision of the number of standing committee members. During the meeting, he was seen talking with Kim Sung-won, a member of the Future United Party. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The ruling and opposition parties agreed on the 9th to increase the number of members in the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee and the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee, while reducing the number of members in the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, and the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee.

Kim Young-jin of the Democratic Party of Korea and Kim Sung-won, the senior deputy floor leader of the United Future Party, reached this agreement during a meeting held at the National Assembly in the afternoon.

According to the specific agreement, the Welfare Committee increased by 2 members, and the Industry Committee increased by 1 member. This measure reflects considerations of overcoming the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and changes in industrial structure. Conversely, the Foreign Affairs Committee, Culture Committee, and Science and Technology Committee each decreased by 1 member. The Legislative and Judiciary Committee, which was a key issue, decided to maintain the current number of members.

Senior Deputy Floor Leader Kim Sung-won explained, "To enable the National Assembly to fulfill its role in the post-COVID era, we first increased the number of members in the Welfare Committee by two and the Industry Committee by one. We then concluded by reducing one seat in the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, one member in the Foreign Affairs Committee, and one member in the Culture Committee."

Thus, the number of members per standing committee was set as follows: ▲Political Affairs Committee 24 members ▲Legislative and Judiciary Committee 18 members ▲Planning and Finance Committee 26 members ▲Education Committee 16 members ▲Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee 20 members ▲Foreign Affairs Committee 21 members ▲National Defense Committee 17 members ▲Administration and Security Committee 22 members ▲Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee 16 members ▲Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee 19 members ▲Industry Committee 30 members ▲Welfare Committee 24 members ▲Environment and Labor Committee 16 members ▲Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee 30 members.

The adjustment plan will be finalized after the plenary meeting of the Special Committee on the Revision of Rules Concerning the Number of Standing Committee Members (Special Committee on Number Adjustment) and the plenary session on the 10th.

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