Democratic Party Builds Justification with 'Hwaamsa Meeting', Will They Force Committee Chairmanship Monopoly?

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Young-jin, chief deputy floor leader, are entering the Speaker's office on the 24th to meet with Park Byeong-seok, Speaker of the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Kim Tae-nyeon, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the United Future Party, met at Hwaamsa Temple in Goseong, Gangwon Province, to negotiate the organization of the National Assembly, but ultimately failed to find common ground. Until now, the Democratic Party, which had criticized the United Future Party's boycott of the National Assembly by saying "we have endured enough," is expected to proceed with the process of 'monopolizing the standing committee chairmanships' after this meeting.

At the Democratic Party's Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 24th, Floor Leader Kim said, "We agreed on the big picture of normalizing the National Assembly and the swift handling of the third supplementary budget," adding, "Floor Leader Joo said he would announce his position this afternoon. We hope that the United Future Party will make a wise decision solely for the people today."

Floor Leader Kim visited Hwaamsa Temple, where Floor Leader Joo was in seclusion, the previous afternoon for a meeting. This meeting between the two floor leaders came eight days after the Democratic Party elected six standing committee chairpersons, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair, excluding the United Future Party on the 15th. Although the meeting was held after many twists and turns, it is known that the two floor leaders only confirmed their differences in position.

For now, the Democratic Party plans to observe the message from Floor Leader Joo, who is still at Hwaamsa Temple. However, there is a strong call within the United Future Party for a stronger opposition. On the morning of the same day, Representative Lee Myung-soo said at the United Future Party's emergency committee meeting, "At times like this, a strong opposition is needed," and added, "I hope Floor Leader Joo returns early and properly impresses the image of a strong opposition again."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

If there is no further progress in the current situation, the Democratic Party is expected to proceed with electing the remaining standing committee chairpersons to pass the third supplementary budget bill. It is known that the Democratic Party's floor leadership requested Speaker Park Byeong-seok to convene a plenary session this morning for this purpose. A Democratic Party official said, "Our basic position is that the plenary session should be held quickly," adding, "Floor Leader Kim explained the results of the meeting with Floor Leader Joo yesterday and the urgency of the supplementary budget to Speaker Park and requested the convening of the plenary session."

Once the plenary session is convened, the Democratic Party is likely to elect all standing committee chairpersons without employing the previous 'salami tactics' to review the supplementary budget by each committee. On a radio program that day, United Future Party Representative Cho Hae-jin said, "Since the supplementary budget is likely to include budgets for departments under each standing committee's jurisdiction, the Democratic Party will not only elect the Budget and Accounts Committee chair," predicting the Democratic Party's monopoly of the standing committees.

In this regard, some interpret Floor Leader Kim's visit to Floor Leader Joo as a move to build justification for monopolizing the standing committees. By going all the way to Gangwon Province to persuade Floor Leader Joo, it gave the public the impression that "we have done all we could."

However, some speculate that the Democratic Party might temporarily take all 18 standing committee chairmanships in a 'one-point election.' The expectation is that the ruling party will complete the election of chairpersons alone, then after passing the supplementary budget, resign from the chairmanships originally considered to be the opposition's share and re-enter negotiations. In fact, Kim Young-jin, the Democratic Party's deputy floor leader, said the day before, "Forming the National Assembly in an extreme way is not appropriate to the will of the people," and added, "The will of the people is for the ruling and opposition parties to hold the standing committee chairmanships in an 11 to 7 ratio."

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