Ruling and Opposition Parties Fail to Hold Plenary Session on 23rd... "Pushing for Plenary Sessions on 30th and 1st" (Update)

The Speaker of the National Assembly and the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties decided not to hold a plenary session on the 23rd. Although they agreed to hold plenary sessions on the 30th of this month and the 1st of next month to handle next year's budget bill, there are interpretational differences between the parties, making the schedule for the two days of plenary sessions uncertain.

Kim Jin-pyo, Speaker of the National Assembly, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, and Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, after discussing the agenda including the plenary session on the 22nd, decided not to hold a plenary session tomorrow.

An official from the Speaker's office stated, "(The plenary session tomorrow) will not be held," and added, "They agreed on the 30th of this month and the 1st of next month." The official said, "As a result of an informal meeting between the Speaker and the floor leaders of both parties, it was agreed to hold plenary sessions on the 30th and the 1st. Since there is a legal deadline for the budget bill along with other bills in this plenary session, they agreed to handle the budget bill then."

On the 9th, the partial amendment to the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act was passed at the plenary session held at the National Assembly. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

There was some dispute over whether the plenary session schedule was 'agreed upon.' Jeon Ju-hye, floor spokesperson for the People Power Party, regarding the announcement by the Speaker's office official, said, "It is not true that an agreement was reached," and added, "Under the premise that the budget bill is agreed upon, it was discussed that the plenary sessions would be held on the 30th and the 1st. If the budget bill is not passed by then, holding the plenary session on the 30th will need to be renegotiated." When asked if the premise for holding the plenary session was the budget bill, Jeon said, "Of course," and added, "There is no reason to hold it for two days."

The ruling and opposition parties are sensitive about holding plenary sessions for two consecutive days due to the impeachment issue concerning Lee Dong-gwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, and prosecutors. According to the National Assembly Act, impeachment motions must be voted on within 72 hours after 24 hours have passed since the report. Therefore, to process the impeachment motion, a schedule requiring two sessions within four days is necessary.

Meanwhile, the plenary session on the 23rd was clouded after the scheduled full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee was canceled that day. Kim Do-eup, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the People Power Party, canceled the meeting, stating that "it is unreasonable to proceed with the Legislation and Judiciary Committee without an agreement on the plenary session schedule between the floor leaders."

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