Holding the March Extraordinary National Assembly... Stalled from the First Day

Joo Ho-young "BTS is the Purpose of the Temporary National Assembly" Offensive
Democratic Party "People Power Party's Passive Agenda Setting" Rebuttal

The March extraordinary session of the National Assembly has been running in circles since its first day. Convened from March 1, a public holiday (3.1 Movement Day), for the first time in constitutional history at the request of the Democratic Party of Korea, there has yet to be a single agreed-upon legislative schedule between the ruling and opposition parties. The National Assembly has been in session continuously for 199 days since August last year, marking the second-longest record since the 13th National Assembly.

According to the National Assembly on the 2nd, there were no scheduled plenary or standing committee meetings that day. Earlier last month, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the start date of the March extraordinary session, but on the 28th, the Democratic Party submitted a request to convene the session starting from the 1st, and the session began the day before. However, the party leaders from both sides only attended the 3.1 Movement Day commemorative ceremony held at the Yu Gwan-sun Memorial Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, attended a rally held in front of Seoul City Hall instead of the National Assembly building.

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 28th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the same day, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the party’s emergency meeting, "According to the National Assembly Act, if the 1st is a public holiday, the session should start the next day, but for some reason, they convened without even a day off and wasted the entire day yesterday without agreeing on the legislative schedule." He criticized, "It clearly revealed that the purpose of this extraordinary session is to shield someone."

In response, Jin Sung-jun, the Democratic Party’s deputy floor leader for policy coordination, said at the party’s policy coordination meeting on the same day, "The legislative schedule for the (March) extraordinary session has not yet been decided, so it is in a blank state," adding, "Although the March extraordinary session was convened according to the National Assembly Act, the People Power Party was passive for various reasons, so the legislative schedule could not be set." He blamed the opposition party for the National Assembly’s de facto shutdown.

Earlier, Speaker Kim Jin-pyo ordered the ruling and opposition parties to agree on the March legislative schedule by the previous day and to prepare an alternative amendment to the Grain Management Act through negotiations before convening the first plenary session according to that schedule. He also added a proviso that if no agreement is reached between the two parties, the Democratic Party’s amendment would be put to a vote at the first plenary session of the March National Assembly.

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Because of this, the Grain Management Act amendment, which mandates the government to compulsorily purchase excess rice production, is expected to become the biggest flashpoint among contentious bills. Deputy Floor Leader Jin emphasized that the Grain Management Act, the amendment to the Medical Service Act to revoke licenses of doctors guilty of sexual harassment, and the Nursing Act amendment, all of which are to be directly referred to the plenary session, must be passed during the March National Assembly. On the other hand, the People Power Party opposes the Grain Management Act amendment, calling it "a law that helps no one, neither the public nor farmers," and the Presidential Office has also announced it will exercise a veto if the amendment passes the National Assembly, intensifying the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties.

The Broadcasting Act and the ‘Yellow Envelope Act’ (amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act), which are pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, are also expected to face extreme opposition. Both bills passed the standing committee under the Democratic Party’s leadership despite opposition from the People Power Party. The Broadcasting Act has been held up in the committee for over 60 days, allowing for direct referral to the plenary session according to the law. Since the Democratic Party holds a majority in the National Assembly, bills directly referred to the plenary session have a high chance of passing.

The double special investigation (Ssangteukgeom) pushed by the opposition party is also a source of conflict between the ruling and opposition parties. The Democratic Party is pushing special investigation bills into the ‘Deutsche Motors stock manipulation’ allegations involving President Yoon Seok-yeol’s spouse Kim Gun-hee and the ‘Daejang-dong’ scandal involving former People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do. The People Power Party claims this is a smokescreen to shield Lee Jae-myung. The Justice Party’s ‘50 Billion Club’ special investigation bill and negotiations with the Democratic Party’s bill are also contentious. To immediately submit a bill to the plenary session (fast track), 180 votes, or three-fifths of all members, are required. The Justice Party insists that special investigations should be recommended by non-negotiating groups, creating a significant disagreement with the Democratic Party.

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