With Ruling Party's Push to Force 'Economic 3 Laws'... Opposition: "Legislative Dictatorship Ignoring National Assembly Act"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] As the amendment to the Fair Trade Act and the enactment bill of the Financial Group Supervision Act, among the "Three Economic Laws" (Commercial Act, Fair Trade Act, Financial Group Supervision Act), are increasingly likely to pass the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee solely by the ruling party on the 7th, the People Power Party held an emergency press conference and protested, calling it "legislative dictatorship ignoring National Assembly procedures."

Members of the People Power Party in the Political Affairs Committee claimed that the Democratic Party of Korea unilaterally held a public hearing on the Financial Group Supervision Act, saying, "They violated the National Assembly Act and are trying to recreate the situation of the Lease 3 Laws," and insisted that "the public hearing is null and void."

Seong Il-jong, the People Power Party's secretary of the Political Affairs Committee, argued, "Among the Three Economic Laws, the Financial Group Supervision Act and the Fair Trade Act, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Political Affairs Committee, have such a huge impact on the South Korean economy that they should not be passed hastily as if in battle."

He pointed out, "Like the Lease 3 Laws that brought despair to the younger generation, if this law passes, the shock to the South Korean economy will be too great," and added, "We have been talking about finding a consensus, but today we were notified by the ruling party that they would unilaterally hold a public hearing without agreement between the ruling and opposition party secretaries."

He continued, "We said we could not respond to a schedule without consultation between the ruling and opposition party secretaries, but we were already notified for 1:30 PM today, and although we invited two experts to the public hearing, no information about their identity or expertise was provided to any opposition party member," and criticized, "This violates Article 49, Paragraph 2, and Article 58 of the National Assembly Act." The law stipulates that the chairman must set the meeting schedule in consultation with the secretaries, and that for newly enacted bills, a public hearing or hearing must be held but can be omitted by committee resolution.

Despite the opposition party's protests, the Democratic Party plans to submit the amendment to the Fair Trade Act, the enactment bill of the Financial Group Supervision Act, and the amendment to the Special Act on the Truth Investigation of Social Participation (SaCham Act) directly under the chairman's authority at the full meeting of the Political Affairs Committee on the same day. They intend to handle these bills within this regular session of the National Assembly.

Regarding this, Kim Byung-wook, the Democratic Party's secretary of the Political Affairs Committee, said at a meeting with reporters, "It would have been really good to hold a subcommittee and expert roundtable through agreement between the ruling and opposition party secretaries, but please understand that it was unavoidable not to do so."

Kim said, "Rather than not holding the public hearing due to opposition party resistance, showing the public that we are exchanging various opinions on the bill's content among ourselves would greatly help improve the bill's completeness."

Kim added, "If the opposition party showed a little sincerity in reviewing the bill, it is a bill that could quickly reach an agreement without major disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties, so I regret that this is not the case," and urged, "I hope the opposition party actively cooperates with the bill review even now."

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