Joo Ho-young "Will Not Attend Plenary Session... No Further Negotiations"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, announced his intention to boycott the plenary session, stating, "There will be no further negotiations."

On the 11th, Joo told reporters at the National Assembly rotunda, "We will not attend the plenary session, but to make our position clear, one member will enter to make a procedural speech."

The procedural speech will be delivered by Kim Sung-won, the deputy floor leader.

Joo said, "We will not engage in any more additional negotiations. People might think there is progress through further talks, but as I said, the ruling party has only threatened us." He added, "From the beginning, their stance was 'the Legislation and Judiciary Committee is ours,' and they intend to take it by force, so this is not a negotiation."

It is known that the ruling party also proposed some standing committees. Joo explained, "When there was no agreement, they said they might take all 18 standing committees, but then offered to allocate 11 to 7 according to seat ratio. When we asked, 'What are the 7 committees?' they proposed what they could give us," adding, "the Budget and Accounts Committee was also included."

Joo stated, "This is the first time since the Constituent Assembly that standing committees are being unilaterally assigned without agreement in twenty sessions of opening the National Assembly." He warned, "If this happens, it will be a disgrace and an outrage in constitutional history, and if such a thing occurs, there will be no National Assembly or opposition party in the Republic of Korea, only one-party dictatorship by the Democratic Party."

Joo said, "(The Democratic Party) is pushing through by force, so what can we do?" and added, "There is nothing left but to appeal to the people that the separation of powers in the Republic of Korea has collapsed and democracy has disappeared." Regarding protests outside the parliament, he said, "I have not thought about it yet."

Following this, Choi Hyung-doo, the floor spokesperson, urged Speaker Park Byeong-seug to take action. He said, "The Speaker of the National Assembly is not on either side of the ruling or opposition parties but holds an important position that must reflect the will of the people," adding, "At the party meetings, there are calls for the Speaker to uphold the tradition where the ruling party holds the Speaker position and the opposition party holds the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The Speaker must act in a bipartisan manner and make the National Assembly a hall of public opinion."

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