Many Urgent Public Issues... Prolonged 'Legislative Branch Vacancy'

14 Days After Session End... Deadlock in Committee Leadership Due to Law Committee Disagreement

On the 20th, the nomination for Han Duck-soo as Prime Minister was approved at the plenary session held at the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] As the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea remain deadlocked over the reorganization of the 21st National Assembly's second half, the 'legislative vacuum' is lengthening. It has been 14 days since the first half session ended on the 29th of last month.

According to the National Assembly on the 12th, the delay in reorganization continues as both ruling and opposition parties stand firm without any concession regarding the contentious issue surrounding the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

The new government cabinet appointments are also facing setbacks. The Democratic Party argues that the Speaker of the National Assembly should be elected first before the distribution of standing committees to form a special personnel hearing committee, but the People Power Party dismisses this as worthless.

In the situation where the Democratic Party, the largest party in the Assembly, has not received the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee but holds the gavel of the plenary session through the Speaker, the People Power Party sees no way to block the 'giant opposition' any longer.

However, the Democratic Party takes a hardline stance on the distribution of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. They say they could concede if the authority for systematic and detailed examination is adjusted to reduce the power of the committee chair, but they cannot give the current chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to the People Power Party. This is because if the committee chair opposes, the passage of bills could be delayed or blocked.

Meanwhile, the government and ruling party side have expressed that they may proceed with the appointment of Kim Chang-gi, the nominee for Commissioner of the National Tax Service, whose personnel hearing request was already submitted in the previous session, if necessary, raising expectations that tensions between the ruling and opposition parties may once again intensify.

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