Ruling and Opposition Parties Promised Cooperation, but Discord Emerges Across the Board in Just One Day

Joo Ho-young "If we don't concede the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, it will be difficult to get a standing committee"
Kim Tae-nyeon "No room for reconsideration on standing committees"
Legislation and Judiciary Committee also debates over Chu Mi-ae's son

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The atmosphere of bipartisan cooperation created by the meeting between Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Jong-in, emergency committee chairman of the United Future Party, seems to be collapsing in less than a day. In particular, the issue of redistributing the chairmanships of the National Assembly standing committees has become a decisive trigger that has plunged both parties back into conflict.

According to political circles on the 2nd, Lee and Kim virtually agreed at their meeting the previous day on the formulation of the 4th supplementary budget and the selective payment of the 2nd emergency disaster relief fund. With the two party leaders speaking in unison on livelihood issues for the first time in a while, expectations for bipartisan cooperation also rose.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, this atmosphere disappeared in less than a day. In particular, the issue of redistributing the standing committees became an obstacle blocking bipartisan cooperation. On the same day, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, appeared on a radio show and said regarding the redistribution of standing committee chairmanships, "It is difficult to receive other standing committee chairmanships without changing the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee."

He emphasized again, "The standing committee issue originally started with how to handle the Legislation and Judiciary Committee," adding, "The Democratic Party allocated seven standing committees to us and said we could take them anytime, but it is not easy to accept them without any change to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee."

Earlier, Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party, firmly stated that "there is no room for reconsideration regarding the Legislation and Judiciary Committee," making it clear that it is not subject to negotiation for redistribution of standing committees. As the difference in position between the floor leaders of both parties was reconfirmed, there is a high possibility that even if discussions on redistribution of standing committees officially begin, they will fall into a deadlock again.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, the meeting between the floor leaders of both parties, which was expected to discuss the redistribution of standing committees, was suddenly canceled the previous day. Floor leader Joo expressed regret over Speaker Park Byeong-seok unilaterally pushing through a bill related to non-face-to-face National Assembly operations and refused to meet as a form of protest.

Joo said, "According to the Constitution, 'attendance' means being present in the meeting room, but ignoring the constitutional concept of attendance and allowing voting via video under a subordinate law only paves the way for the ruling party to push through with numbers," adding, "I was very upset because the Speaker threw this out without any sense of problem."

Bipartisan conflicts continued in the National Assembly standing committees. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which convened the previous day to approve the 2019 fiscal year settlement and approval of contingency funds, experienced a breakdown due to a tense confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties over allegations concerning the military leave of Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's son during his military service. The United Future Party requested a current affairs inquiry into the leave allegations of Minister Choo's son, Seo Mo (27), but Yoon Ho-jung, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, expressed reluctance, citing lack of prior consultation between party secretaries, and as signs of quarrels between the party secretaries appeared, the session was eventually adjourned.

The United Future Party held a press conference that day and released a recorded testimony from a military official stating that Minister Choo's aide called the son's military unit to request an extension of his sick leave. Based on this, the United Future Party plans to file a complaint against Minister Choo's side with the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The United Future Party's exclusion of the 'ban on four-term consecutive re-election of National Assembly members' clause from its new party platform amendment also hinders bipartisan cooperation. Previously, Lee proposed at the meeting with Kim Jong-in to legislate common pledges from the general election and the common party platforms of both parties.

Yoon Geon-young, a Democratic Party lawmaker who has already proposed a bill banning four consecutive terms for National Assembly members, criticized the United Future Party's exclusion of the clause, saying, "I had some hope, but as expected." On his Facebook the previous day, he said, "This was an expected development and outcome, so I am not very disappointed by the United Future Party's announcement," adding, "The United Future Party said they would discuss this separately, but I suspect that is just to save face."

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