Kim Tae-nyeon "Negotiations on Committee Formation Fail... All Responsibility Lies with the United Party"

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is entering the Speaker's office on the 29th to attend a meeting between the Speaker and floor leaders of negotiating groups for the organization of the 21st National Assembly./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Kang Nahum and Jeon Jinyoung] Kim Tae-nyeon, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, blamed the United Future Party for the breakdown of the ruling and opposition parties' negotiations on the organization of the National Assembly, saying, "The Democratic Party has made the maximum concessions possible so far. However, the United Future Party communicated their refusal," placing responsibility on the United Future Party.

In a press conference held immediately after the breakdown of the negotiations with the United Future Party on the morning of the 29th, Floor Leader Kim said, "All responsibility for sinking the 21st National Assembly's working parliament and causing difficulties in people's livelihoods lies with the United Future Party."

He continued, "The Democratic Party will hold a plenary session today (29th) in consultation with the third parties excluding the United Future Party to elect the standing committee chairs and operate the National Assembly normally," emphasizing, "We will approach the supplementary budget (additional budget) processing with extraordinary determination within the June extraordinary session promised to the people."

Regarding the initially reached 'tentative agreement' with the United Future Party, Floor Leader Kim explained, "There was an agreement to maintain the ratio of 11 to 7 for standing committee chairs, and that the ruling party would have the priority to select the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in the second half of the 21st National Assembly after the presidential election." He added, "There was also an agreement that both parties would sincerely discuss institutional improvements of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, as well as national audits and standing committee hearings."

He further explained, "The national audit concerned issues related to the agreement and follow-up measures on the comfort women victims of the Japanese military during the Japan-Korea dispute, and the hearing was about the investigation and trial process of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook's case and subsequent raised issues."

Regarding why the United Future Party had no choice but to reject this tentative agreement, he speculated, "Considering the progress of the organization negotiations so far, it seems to be due to the party structure where negotiation authority and decision-making authority are separated."

When asked whether some standing committee chair positions would be returned to the United Future Party after processing the supplementary budget, Floor Leader Kim dismissed the possibility, saying, "The United Future Party said, 'If all standing committee chairs are elected today, how could we ask to return them midway?'"

He emphasized, "To operate the National Assembly normally, especially to process this third supplementary budget, it is an unavoidable choice to elect all 18 standing committee chairs and operate the standing committees normally."

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