Ruling and Opposition Parties Fail to Agree on Committee Formation... Proceeding with 'Half' Standing Committee Setup

People Power Party Proposed Mediation Plan but Democratic Party Rejected
"Shielding Lee Jae-myung's Judicial Risks" vs "Must Follow National Assembly Law"

The ruling and opposition parties engaged in negotiations over the organization of the 22nd National Assembly until just before the plenary session, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement. The Democratic Party of Korea is expected to proceed with taking control of 11 standing committees, as it had effectively signaled.

On the afternoon of the 10th, after finishing the party members' meeting, the People Power Party members are holding placards with phrases such as "Resignation of National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik" and "Apology for Lee Jae-myung's Shielding" in front of the Speaker's office, condemning the Democratic Party's attempt to forcibly proceed with the selection process of standing committee chairpersons. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 10th, Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, and Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, met at the Speaker’s office in Yeouido, Seoul, presided over by Speaker Woo Won-shik, but failed to produce a consensus. The People Power Party proposed a mediation plan in which they would take the Chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in exchange for ceding the Chairs of the Steering Committee and the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee to the Democratic Party, but the Democratic Party rejected it. Floor leader Choo stated, "After much deliberation, we proposed a negotiation plan until the very end, but the Democratic Party has consistently insisted on seizing the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Steering Committee, and the Science and Broadcasting Committee to shield Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung from judicial risks," adding, "Negotiations have completely broken down."

The People Power Party blamed the Democratic Party and Speaker Woo for the failure of the organization negotiations and even visited the Speaker’s office to protest. They shouted slogans such as "Resign the Speaker responsible for destroying cooperation," "Apologize for unilateral National Assembly management," and "Stop shielding Lee Jae-myung."

They attempted negotiations between floor leaders around 4 p.m., but again failed to reach a result. After concluding the meeting between the floor leaders of both parties at around 5:40 p.m., floor leader Choo told reporters, "The Speaker and the floor leaders of both parties had a long discussion," adding, "Each side presented their positions, but there was no progress."

The Democratic Party and the People Power Party remain at odds over the Chairs of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Steering Committee. The Democratic Party wants the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which functions as an upper house within the National Assembly through systematic review, and the Steering Committee, which can exert pressure on the Presidential Secretariat. However, the People Power Party insists that, according to precedent, the ruling party should secure the Chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the ruling party’s share of the Steering Committee.

The Democratic Party pressured the People Power Party and Speaker Woo to organize the Assembly according to the National Assembly Act. Floor leader Park said at the Supreme Council meeting that day, "No matter how much the unlawful labor forces refuse to work, the National Assembly must comply with the law and follow the people's mandate," and urged, "We have had sufficient dialogue and negotiations, so the Speaker should make a decision."

On the other hand, the People Power Party criticized the Democratic Party for rushing the organization to defend leader Lee’s judicial risks. Jang Dong-hyuk, the senior spokesperson for the People Power Party floor, told reporters at the National Assembly that morning, "The Democratic Party’s insistence on keeping all major standing committees is nothing but an attempt to save leader Lee alone," adding, "If parliamentary democracy can be restored, we will keep all possible methods and options open to fight."

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