Ruling Party Blasts U.S. Investment Special Committee Breakdown: "Opposition Undermined Spirit of Agreement"

"Breakdown Triggered by Unrelated Legislation and Judiciary Committee Issue"
"National-Level Agenda...An Act of Abandoning the National Interest"

The Special Committee on the Special Act for U.S. Investment, composed of Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers in the National Assembly, criticized the fact that its first meeting on the 12th broke down after just 40 minutes, saying, "The People Power Party derailed the schedule for the special committee, which it had itself agreed to, by demanding that the meeting be moved to a closed session and be recessed, citing circumstances in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee that are not directly related to the special committee."

The members of the special committee held a press conference that afternoon and said they were "deeply regretful" that the committee, which was launched based on an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, had fallen into disarray.

At the first plenary meeting of the Special Committee to consider the Special Act on Investment in the United States, held at the National Assembly on Feb. 12, 2026, Kim Sanghun, chair of the committee and a People Power Party lawmaker, announced that the committee would move to a closed session and asked reporters to leave. Feb. 12, 2026 Yonhap News Agency

They pointed out, "There can be differences of opinion within the National Assembly, but this is a nationally important issue, and even in a special committee with a clearly defined deadline, if the agreed schedule and procedures are overturned from the very first day, that in itself is an act of abandoning the national interest."

They continued, "Even at this very moment, changes in U.S. trade policy are directly affecting our companies' investment and employment decisions," adding, "Bringing the discussions of the special committee itself to a halt is an act of weakening the nation's ability to respond."

Addressing the People Power Party, they said, "By undermining the spirit of bipartisan agreement, you have chosen to abandon the national interest in the face of a matter of grave national importance," and demanded that the party immediately move to normalize the special committee.

Jung Taeho, the ruling party secretary of the special committee, said, "We had already agreed in advance on a detailed schedule between the ruling and opposition party secretaries, but without any such agreement, People Power Party secretary Park Suyoung said, in effect, that he would not go along," adding, "It has been confirmed that this was done under instructions from the People Power Party floor leadership."

Through a procedural speech at the meeting, Park raised objections to the fact that, at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee the previous day, the Democratic Party had led the passage of the 'Constitutional Complaint Act' and the 'Supreme Court Justice Expansion Act,' which the People Power Party opposes. He said, "No matter how much we discuss things in our special committee, there is no guarantee that the Democratic Party will not unilaterally push them through." The meeting then moved to a closed session and was recessed at around 9:40 p.m., after which it broke down.

The special committee plans to review eight bills related to the implementation of the 'Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Strategic Investment' signed between the governments of South Korea and the United States on November 14 last year, by March 9. However, with tensions between the ruling and opposition parties intensifying from the very first meeting, a rocky road is expected.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yooncheol, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jungkwan, and others attended the committee meeting that day.

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