Opposition Party Plans to Pass Agricultural 4 Laws in Plenary Session... Government and Ruling Party Oppose, Mentioning Veto Power

Opposition May Pass Permanent Special Prosecutor Bill and Free High School Education Act
National Assembly Law Amendment to Abolish Automatic Budget Referral Also Proposed
Ruling Party Opposes, Saying "Even Budget Is Being Used as a Political Tool"

The National Assembly is about to hold a plenary session to process economic and budget-related bills such as the 'Agriculture 4 Acts' and the 'High School Free Education Act.' However, since the opposition party is pushing these bills without agreement with the ruling party, and the government and ruling party have also mentioned exercising veto power, it is expected that the political deadlock will continue to repeat.

On the 14th, the partial amendment bill to the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes was passed at the National Assembly plenary session. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

On the 28th at 2 p.m., the National Assembly plans to hold a plenary session to process the Agriculture 4 Acts and the amendment to the Standing Special Prosecutor Rules (Standing Special Prosecutor Bill). The Agriculture 4 Acts include amendments to the Grain Management Act, Agricultural Product Price Stabilization Act, Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Protection Act, and Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Countermeasure Act. The Grain Management Act centers on the government’s mandatory purchase when rice prices plummet or rice is overproduced. The Agricultural Product Price Stabilization Act introduces a minimum price guarantee system for agricultural products. The Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Insurance Act excludes the application of surcharge for natural disaster damage when calculating insurance premiums, and the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Countermeasure Act specifies compensation for production costs incurred before disasters. Jin Seong-jun, the Policy Committee Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced the day before that "the Agriculture 4 Acts will definitely be processed in the plenary session," signaling a forced passage.

The Standing Special Prosecutor Bill is an alternative prepared by the Democratic Party after repeated vetoes by President Yoon Seok-yeol regarding the Special Prosecutor Act for First Lady Kim Geon-hee (Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act). The bill excludes the ruling party’s right to recommend candidates when promoting a standing special prosecutor for the president and their family. Specifically, it removes the two members recommended by the ruling party from the Standing Special Prosecutor Candidate Recommendation Committee. The day before, the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Legislation Committee) processed the Standing Special Prosecutor Bill led by the opposition party despite opposition from the ruling party.

Budget-related bills pushed by the opposition party may also be processed in the plenary session on the same day. The amendment to the Local Education Finance Subsidy Act, i.e., the High School Free Education Act, passed the Legislation Committee led by the opposition party the day before. It contains a provision to extend the special clause of the Local Education Finance Subsidy Act, which requires the central government to support 47.5% of the resources related to high school free education, for three years until December 31, 2027. The opposition party claims that the Ministry of Education has effectively neglected high school free education by not securing the necessary funds. The amendment to the National Assembly Act, which prevents the automatic referral of next year’s government budget and supplementary budget bills to the plenary session, also passed the Legislation Committee and is awaiting plenary session processing.

The government and ruling party oppose the bills scheduled for the plenary session that day. There are concerns that even if the bills pass the plenary session, President Yoon’s veto, followed by the National Assembly’s re-vote and eventual discard, will be repeated. Song Mi-ryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated that the Grain Management Act would rather lower the price of rice at production sites and plans to recommend veto exercise to President Yoon. Members of the People Power Party belonging to the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee also raised their voices through a statement that day, saying, "The Agriculture 4 Acts, which have significant disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties, were forcibly processed as if roasting beans over a lightning fire," and "The spirit of National Assembly consensus and the purpose of the National Assembly Act were thoroughly ignored."

The People Power Party is also expected to oppose the budget-related bills led by the opposition party in the plenary session. Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized the amendment to the National Assembly Act at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that day, calling it a "law to trip up the national budget," and pointed out, "They intend to use the budget as a tool for political strife to obstruct state administration." The People Power Party leadership is also supporting the government’s plan to reduce central government support for high school free education while additionally utilizing local education finance subsidies.

The People Power Party criticized the opposition party for pushing only economic and budget bills that suit their interests. The 'Semiconductor Special Act,' which the People Power Party set as a party-backed bill, was not discussed in the Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Venture Business Committee subcommittee on the 26th and thus did not advance to the plenary session. The opposition party opposes the exemption clause for the 52-hour workweek for research and development personnel in the Semiconductor Special Act. Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, said, "Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, tells me to focus on people’s livelihoods rather than trials, but I want to say this: the semiconductor industry situation is not idle. We will definitely process the Semiconductor Special Act within the next regular session of the National Assembly."

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