Park Byeong-seok, "Governance with Parties Accepting Mediation Proposal"... Ruling and Opposition Clash Head-on at 5 PM Plenary Session (Comprehensive)

"No precedent of unilaterally nullifying an agreement approved by the general assembly of lawmakers"

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon, Park Joon-ee, Kwon Hyun-ji] Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok convened a plenary session of the National Assembly at 5 p.m. on the 27th regarding the passage of the 'Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights (Geomsu Wanbak)' bill, emphasizing the necessity of the session by stating, "I have already declared that I will align the direction of the National Assembly's operations with any party that accepts the mediation proposal." This is interpreted as emphasizing the decision to hold the plenary session at the request of the Democratic Party, which accepted the mediation proposal, after the People Power Party unilaterally demanded a 're-agreement' and effectively nullified the agreement reached by the two party floor leaders on the 22nd, as mentioned at the time of the mediation announcement.

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is greeting Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, during a meeting between the floor leaders of the two parties to discuss whether to put the 'Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights (Geomsu Wanbak)' bill on the agenda for the plenary session presided over by National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok at the National Assembly on the 27th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

After a meeting between the two party floor leaders in the afternoon, Speaker Park issued a 'Statement from the Speaker of the National Assembly,' saying, "The political promises made by parliamentary leaders before the people must carry a weight as precious as gold."

Speaker Park explained, "The prosecutorial reform agreement, which the Speaker and the ruling and opposition floor leaders officially agreed upon and signed after approval at their party meetings on the 22nd, was a 'promise to the people.' It was designed to gradually transfer prosecutorial investigation rights to prevent a reduction in investigative capabilities and to establish a Serious Crime Investigation Agency."

He criticized, "After the announcement of the agreement, the opposition party evaluated it as having great significance in opening politics of coexistence and cooperation. The transition committee also respected the acceptance of the mediation proposal within the floor. However, the opposition party reversed this."

Speaker Park criticized, "While there have been cases where agreements between ruling and opposition floor leaders were overturned at party meetings, it is difficult to find a precedent where an agreement approved by a party meeting was unilaterally nullified like this."

He continued, "The Speaker patiently made efforts to communicate again. After several re-discussions, the original agreement was supplemented to allow the prosecution to retain investigation rights for election crimes until the end of the year. However, the opposition party ultimately rejected even this."

Speaker Park stated, "The promises publicly made to the people after agreement by the ruling and opposition floor leaders and approval at party meetings must be kept," expressing "deep regret" toward the People Power Party.

He emphasized, "I have already declared that I will align the direction of the National Assembly's operations with any party that accepts the mediation proposal. Accordingly, I am convening the plenary session of the National Assembly."

On this day, the People Power Party has announced a filibuster (unlimited debate) to block the passage of the bill, making a confrontation between the two sides inevitable.

Before the plenary session, both parties convened their respective party meetings at 4:30 p.m. regarding the passage of the prosecutorial reform bill.

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