Ruling and Opposition Parties to Hold First Meeting of '3+3 Policy Consultative Body' on Next Month 1st... Discuss Government Organization Act and More

"Government Organization Act and Public Institution Heads' Term Bill Aim to Pass Plenary Session by Year-End"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Myunghwan] The ruling and opposition parties have agreed to officially begin discussions on the revision of the Government Organization Act and the bill to align the terms of the president and heads of public institutions. Both parties also agreed to work toward passing the relevant bills in the National Assembly plenary session by the end of the year.

Seong Il-jong of the People Power Party and Kim Seong-hwan, policy chiefs of the Democratic Party of Korea, met at the National Assembly on the 29th and reached this agreement. Following the agreement on the 23rd by the floor leaders of both parties to form a '3+3 policy consultative body' for handling the two bills, this meeting set a specific target date for bill passage. The consultative body is scheduled to hold its first meeting on the morning of the 1st of next month.

Policy Chief Seong said, "We are launching the 3+3 policy consultative body based on the bipartisan agreement," adding, "The consultative body will consist of the policy chiefs of both parties, the senior deputy floor leaders, the ruling and opposition ranking members of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, and one working-level official each." He continued, "The agenda to be discussed includes the Government Organization Act and the bill concerning the alignment of the president's term with that of public institution heads. We agreed to work together to pass these bills in the plenary session by the end of this year."

There is no disagreement over the Government Organization Act revision regarding the elevation of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to a full ministry and the establishment of the Overseas Koreans Office under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, the ruling and opposition parties are at odds over the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The Democratic Party has officially adopted a party stance opposing the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Regarding the 'Act on the Operation of Public Institutions' (Public Institutions Operation Act), which aligns the terms of the president and heads of public institutions, both parties do not openly disagree with the purpose of the law, but there is a clear difference in views on its scope. The Democratic Party argues that fixed-term political positions such as the Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission and the Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission should be excluded and that the law should apply only to heads of executive branch institutions. In contrast, the People Power Party insists that all heads of public institutions should be individuals who agree with the president's political philosophy and national agenda, and that the Korea Communications Commission and Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission are no exceptions.

Meanwhile, both parties also agreed on the 29th to separately form a 'Presidential Election Common Pledge Promotion Team' centered on the policy chiefs of both parties. Earlier, the floor leaders of both parties had agreed to establish a body to legislate the pledges and policies that President Yoon Seok-yeol and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung jointly proposed during the last presidential election.

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