One Day Before Assembly Formation... Ruling and Opposition Parties Still Struggling in Negotiations

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending and speaking at the meeting of floor leaders of negotiation groups for the National Assembly organization negotiation held at the National Assembly on the 11th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] On the 11th, one day before the deadline for the National Assembly's organization, the ruling and opposition parties engaged in last-minute negotiations but struggled to find common ground. They failed to narrow their differences over the key issue of the distribution of the Chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. As a result, there is speculation that the Democratic Party may proceed with the organization through a solo vote in the plenary session on the 12th.

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, met in the Speaker's office that morning to negotiate the organization but failed to reach an agreement.

After the meeting, Floor Leader Joo told reporters, "We met again today and discussed, but both parties only reaffirmed their existing positions, and there was no progress. The floor leaders and senior deputy floor leaders will continue to meet and do their best to discuss until the end," he said.

Before the formal negotiations began, the two floor leaders exchanged sharp words in public. Floor Leader Joo said, "Although the plenary session is scheduled for tomorrow, I don't know what can be done there. In the current situation, no matter how much goodwill there is to cooperate, it is impossible to submit the list. The allocation of standing committee chairmanships must be finalized before selecting committee members. I believe it is impossible to elect chairpersons when the standing committee distribution is incomplete."

In response, Floor Leader Kim fired back, "Even though we agreed on adjusting the number of committee members, refusing to submit the standing committee list still seems like a tactic to delay and change the negotiation results. I think this unwise attitude and stance is stubbornly maintained despite the obvious outcome," he said sharply.

Then Floor Leader Joo retorted, "You speak as if we are deliberately not submitting the standing committee distribution even though we can, but that is not true. We need to know the standing committee chairpersons to allocate the distribution. How can we allocate without that? Please tell me how," sharpening his tone. Floor Leader Kim countered, "The condition is the same for the Democratic Party. It is the same condition. We can submit the list first and adjust it if an agreement is reached," he said.

As the voices of the two floor leaders grew louder, Speaker Park Byeong-seug intervened to restrain the remarks and stepped in to mediate, and the meeting was quickly switched to a closed session.

Having only confirmed their differences, the two parties agreed to continue closed negotiations in the afternoon. The floor leaders and senior deputy floor leaders planned to meet separately, and if necessary, a 2+2 meeting would be held. However, the prevailing view is that reaching an agreement in subsequent meetings will be difficult. Neither party shows signs of concession regarding the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the core issue of the organization. Meanwhile, Speaker Park Byeong-seug stated, "Under any circumstances, the plenary session tomorrow (the 12th) will proceed as scheduled." If no agreement is reached between the ruling and opposition parties by the end of the day, the possibility of the ruling party organizing the standing committees alone is high.

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