Ruling and opposition clash in Hoegi... August extraordinary session ends on 25th instead of 31st, excluding 'Yellow Envelope Act' and 'Broadcasting Act'

Ruling Party: "BTS National Assembly, Session Trick"
Opposition: "Agreement to Split Session on Condition of Not Raising Yellow Envelope Act and Broadcasting Act"

The August extraordinary session of the National Assembly ends today, the 25th. Originally, the August extraordinary session was scheduled to be held for 16 days from the 16th to the 31st of this month, but the Democratic Party shortened the session end date to the 25th, so the August extraordinary session will be held for 10 days from the 16th to the 25th. The People Power Party criticized this as a 'trick' to block the vote on the arrest motion for Representative Lee Jae-myung, while the Democratic Party rebutted that it was a matter agreed upon on the condition that the Yellow Envelope Act and the Broadcasting Act would not be brought up.

The results of the vote on the amendment to the agenda for the National Assembly session held at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 24th are displayed. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

At the plenary session of the National Assembly held on the 24th, the Democratic Party proposed an amendment to bring forward the end date of the August extraordinary session to the 25th. The amendment was passed with 158 votes in favor, 91 against, and 2 abstentions.

Earlier, the prosecution had notified Representative Lee to appear on the '30th,' but with the passage of the amendment to shorten the August session at the plenary session that day, Representative Lee will now appear before the prosecution during the 'non-session' period as he had requested.

The People Power Party strongly opposed this 'session splitting.'

Lee Yang-su, the senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the plenary session that day, "The Democratic Party has convened extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly every month this year, continuing the sessions. In February, they rejected the arrest motion for Representative Lee Jae-myung, and in November last year, they rejected the arrest motion for Representative Noh Woong-rae, drawing criticism as a 'party specialized in shielding members.'" He added, "Now, the Democratic Party suddenly changes its stance, demanding a non-session period and arguing for the session to end early. This is a trick to avoid the vote on the arrest motion in line with the party leader's request and merely an attempt to build a pretext to reject it later."

He also said, "The necessity and timing of the warrant request for Representative Lee regarding various allegations, including the Baekhyun-dong incident and the Ssangbangwool illegal remittance to North Korea suspicion, are matters for the investigative agencies to decide," and criticized, "It is not up to the suspect's demands that it cannot be done at the end of September but can be done at the end of August." He continued, "Regarding Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the National Assembly Act on the annual operation schedule, the August extraordinary session is to be held within 16 days and the session lasts until the end of the month. Ignoring the National Assembly Act and ending the session early is equivalent to Representative Lee demanding that the warrant be requested during the 'non-session' period."

If a warrant is requested during the session, the National Assembly votes on the arrest motion, but the Democratic Party is concerned that this will cause internal conflict again between the 'pro-Lee' and 'anti-Lee' factions within the party over Representative Lee's position. During the vote on the arrest motion for Representative Lee in February, the 'no' votes reached 138, narrowly defeating the motion, but afterward, there was controversy among the Democratic Party's hardline members who sought to identify the lawmakers who voted in favor.

For this reason, the Democratic Party insisted on ending the session on the 25th, considering the possibility that the prosecution might request an arrest warrant for Representative Lee. At the same time, they requested the prosecution to file the warrant during the 'non-session' period so that Representative Lee could undergo the warrant's substantive examination without a vote on the arrest motion.

The day before, Floor Leader Park Kwang-on criticized at the Supreme Council meeting, "The prosecution's insistence on sending the arrest motion for Representative Lee during the regular session is a political act aimed at cornering and damaging the Democratic Party." He added, "If the arrest motion is rejected, they attack the Democratic Party as shielding members, and if it passes, they aim to politically damage the Democratic Party by claiming division. The public already knows that this is an intention to create a trump card in the political game."

Song Ki-heon, the senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party, also asked at the plenary session that day, "Is it normal for the prosecution to investigate the leader of the main opposition party for several years?" He said, "I have been in the legal profession for over 30 years, but I have never seen an investigation dragged out like this. Even though Representative Lee waived his immunity and said he would openly undergo the warrant's substantive examination, the prosecution delayed the summons and warrant request for months. This shows that the prosecution intends to manipulate the National Assembly."

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