Will the Democratic Party, which overturned the 'Legislative Affairs Committee Chair' agreement, change after the local elections?

People Power Party "Results Will Vary According to Public Sentiment"
Democratic Party Likely to Lose Justification for Insisting on Legislation and Judiciary Committee After Local Election Defeat
Lee Jae-myung's Election Could Be a Variable

Park Jumin, the secretary of the National Assembly Judiciary Committee Subcommittee, is giving a proposal explanation on April 27 at the National Assembly plenary session regarding 'Geomsu Wanbak' (separation of prosecution's investigation and indictment rights). Photo by Yoon Dongju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The results of the June 1 local elections are expected to influence the formation of the National Assembly in the latter half of the year. The delay in the formation is due to the Democratic Party of Korea not honoring the agreement made in July last year to hand over the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to the People Power Party. Analysts suggest that once public sentiment is confirmed through this election, the Democratic Party will find it difficult to continue resisting.

Yang Geum-hee, spokesperson for the People Power Party’s Central Election Countermeasures Committee, said in an interview with BBS Radio on the 31st, "The biggest issue in the current formation is which party will take the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee," adding, "I believe the results will vary depending on where the public sentiment heads through the June 1 local elections."

If the People Power Party achieves a landslide victory in the local elections, it would indicate strong public support for President Yoon Suk-yeol, whereas the Democratic Party would face calls for reassessment. This election serves as a barometer of public opinion on issues such as the Democratic Party’s rushed passage of the 'Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights' (Geomsu Wanbak) bill after President Yoon’s election, delays in confirmation hearings, and the reversal of the agreement on the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

In particular, it seems unlikely that the Democratic Party will break the agreement made by former floor leaders Yoon Ho-jung and Kim Gi-hyeon regarding the distribution of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chairmanship and take it for themselves. Eom Kyung-young, director of the Era Spirit Research Institute, said, "If the People Power Party wins more than nine metropolitan mayor seats, it confirms the public’s will to cooperate with the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and to operate the National Assembly as promised," adding, "The Democratic Party will have no choice but to give the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to the People Power Party." The People Power Party continues to pressure the Democratic Party to honor the agreement. Heo Eun-ah, spokesperson for the election committee, stated the day before, "The only difference between the past and present is that the Democratic Party has become the ruling party," and added, "The Democratic Party should not hold the formation of the National Assembly hostage to livelihood issues. We hope they respect the spirit of last year’s floor leader agreement and relinquish their desire for the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee."

If the Democratic Party suffers a major defeat in the local elections, its leadership will face a crossroads of total resignation. Having lost power after five years, the Democratic Party had already proposed a full leadership resignation after the last presidential election. If a new leadership is established, it may express willingness to respect the original agreement and hand over the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to the People Power Party. One variable is Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party candidate running in the Incheon Gyeyang-eul by-election. If he wins, there is speculation that this could be used as a justification to appoint a new emergency committee chairperson and attempt 'entrusted politics.'

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