Unable to Reach Conclusion on 'Beopsawi Chairman' Allocation Issue... Ruling and Opposition Parties to Re-discuss on 30th

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties gathered in one place to discuss the organization of the National Assembly, but they parted ways after only confirming their sharp differences over the position of the Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The ruling and opposition parties plan to hold another floor leaders' meeting presided over by the Speaker of the National Assembly on the 30th to renegotiate the distribution of standing committees.

Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok is taking a commemorative photo with Yoon Ho-jung, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, on the 28th at the National Assembly before their meeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

On the 28th, Yoon Ho-jung, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, met at the Speaker's office of the National Assembly, presided over by Speaker Park Byeong-seok, to discuss the distribution of standing committee chair positions, but both sides failed to narrow their differences over the contentious Chairperson position of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

On this day, Speaker Park urged, "Before the regular session of the National Assembly in September, please finalize the committees that have been agreed upon but not yet launched, the list of recommended members that the National Assembly should appoint, and especially ensure that the issue of standing committee chairpersons is resolved as soon as possible."

The Democratic Party proposed seven standing committee chair positions, including the Budget and Accounts Committee, to the People Power Party instead of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair, but the People Power Party is demanding the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair position, resulting in no conclusion.

At the meeting, Floor Leader Yoon said, "The term of the Budget and Accounts Committee members ended at the end of May, but the committee has not been formed, and the by-election for the standing committee chairperson who has expressed resignation has not yet been held, which is regrettable," adding, "I hope the issue of standing committees and the formation of the Budget and Accounts Committee will be settled within the June National Assembly session." He added, "The second supplementary budget bill for this year, including the fifth disaster relief fund, is scheduled to pass the plenary session and be submitted to the National Assembly on July 1," and "I hope all related systems will be organized before the June National Assembly session for the supplementary budget review."

This is interpreted as meaning that the Democratic Party intends to conclude the matter on the condition that the People Power Party accepts all standing committee chair positions except for the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair proposed by the Democratic Party.

However, Floor Leader Kim retorted, "We were notified of the assignment of standing committees that we never wanted. It is utterly absurd."

Floor Leader Kim criticized, "The Democratic Party still insists on monopolizing and says let's have dialogue and compromise," adding, "They just want us to give up."

He said, "Right now, it is a completely monopolized National Assembly," and "Even though we are a minority opposition party, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee have been from different parties to maintain the principle of checks and balances. Many senior lawmakers agreed on this rule, but it has been ignored, and the majority party has unilaterally taken it for a year," adding, "If you tell us to just eat the rice cake soup and stop, it completely ignores the existence of the opposition."

In response, Floor Leader Yoon said, "You say it is a monopolized National Assembly, but in fact, it is a 'monopoly-inducing National Assembly,'" adding, "The opposition decided to take seven standing committees but then refused to take them, so the ruling party is operating all the standing committees, which may look like a monopoly. In fact, they created a monopoly-inducing National Assembly and have cornered us for a year; it might have been to that extent."

Speaker Park emphasized, "To reach an agreement now, the two of you need to think first about what you can concede. If you insist on enforcing only what you think, you cannot reach an agreement," and "I hope you support each other with an open mind."

Since Yoon Ho-jung was elected floor leader of the Democratic Party on April 16, the Chairperson position of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee has been vacant for two months. Following the failure of negotiations over the distribution of standing committees at the floor leaders' meeting on the 18th and again at this meeting, another ruling and opposition party meeting is scheduled for the 30th.

Han Min-su, the chief public relations officer for the Speaker of the National Assembly, told reporters after the meeting, "There are differences between the ruling and opposition parties over the Chairperson position of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, so coordination will be necessary," adding, "There will be a ruling and opposition party meeting presided over by the Speaker of the National Assembly this coming Wednesday."

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