Speaker Park Byeong-seok "Plenary Session to Open on the 29th"... Extension of Deadline for Ruling and Opposition Parties' Negotiations on Committee Formation

Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok is meeting with Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, on the afternoon of the 26th at the Speaker's office in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporters Kang Nahum and Jeon Jinyoung] National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok has decided to postpone the plenary session originally scheduled for the 26th to the 29th. This extension of the negotiation deadline came after the ruling and opposition parties failed to find common ground in the parliamentary organization talks on that day.

After meeting with the floor leaders of both parties, Speaker Park announced, according to Han Minsu, the National Assembly's Chief Public Relations Secretary, "The plenary session will be held on Monday, the 29th."

Han said, "There was some convergence of opinions during today's meeting between the floor leaders, but no final agreement was reached," adding, "A final negotiation chaired by the Speaker is scheduled over the weekend."

He continued, "The specific details of the negotiations so far cannot be disclosed, but Speaker Park has consistently urged that the ruling and opposition parties must reach an agreement until the end," and explained, "He emphasized that the basis for parliamentary organization must solely be the people and national interest, and that negotiations should be conducted according to this principle. To achieve this, he has presided over lengthy negotiations until now."

Democratic Party floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon and United Future Party floor leader Joo Ho-young held a private meeting in the Speaker's office from 1:20 p.m. but failed to reach an agreement. Joo told reporters, "We could not reach a conclusion and decided to continue discussions," but also said, "There is no situation where we have decided not to meet, nor have we decided to meet."

Kim Young-jin, the Democratic Party's deputy floor leader, also stated, "We discussed various proposals in depth, but no agreement was reached."

There were rumors in political circles that the floor leaders of both parties were preparing a tentative agreement to split the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in one-year terms and were preparing for party caucus approval, but floor leader Joo denied this. Park Seong-jun, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, also explained the negotiation status by saying, "There were various discussions, but no progress was made in the negotiations."

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