'Yoon's Reconsideration Request' Grain Management Act Amendment Re-vote Result 'Rejected'

After President Yoon Suk-yeol exercised his veto power (request for reconsideration), the 'Amendment to the Grain Management Act' returned to the National Assembly and was rejected at the plenary session on the 13th.

On the same day, the National Assembly held a plenary session in the afternoon and conducted a secret ballot on the reconsideration of the Grain Management Act amendment. Out of 290 members present, 177 voted in favor, 112 against, and 1 invalid vote, resulting in the bill's rejection.

President Yoon Suk-yeol [Photo by Yonhap News]

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According to Article 53 of the Constitution, a bill on which the president has exercised the right of reconsideration must be re-approved by a majority of the total members and by two-thirds or more of the members present. With 300 seats in total, if the ruling party, the People Power Party (115 seats), collectively rejects it, approval is impossible.

The amendment to the Grain Management Act mandates government purchase of surplus rice production. Despite opposition from the People Power Party, the bill was passed under the leadership of opposition parties at the National Assembly plenary session on the 23rd of last month. However, on the 4th of this month, President Yoon exercised his veto power, requesting reconsideration, and the bill was resubmitted to the plenary session agenda.

On this day, the Grain Management Act was subject to a revote amid intense confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties. The floor leaders of both parties failed to reach an agreement during a meeting chaired by Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, and the bill was initially excluded from the agenda. However, immediately after the plenary session convened, the Democratic Party submitted a 'motion to change the agenda' to include the revote on the Grain Management Act amendment and pushed forward with the revote. This motion passed with 176 votes in favor and 109 against out of 285 members present, enabling the revote.

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at a members' meeting held before the plenary session, "There is no reason to delay the revote on the Grain Management Act," adding, "Bills referred back to the National Assembly after the president exercises veto power must undergo a revote according to the procedures stipulated by the National Assembly Act." He continued, "The Grain Management Act is supported by 60% of the public," and criticized, "If the issue, which concerns the survival rights of farmers, is dragged into political strife just to buy time, it means failing to fulfill the legislature's fundamental duty. This is a clear abandonment of responsibility."

Park also urged, "After the president exercises veto power, the bill should naturally be submitted to the plenary session and voted on according to the Constitution and the National Assembly Act. What reason is there to delay this?" and called on the Democratic Party members to vote in favor as a party line.

The People Power Party strongly opposed the Democratic Party's forceful handling of the Grain Management Act. Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, told reporters after the afternoon members' meeting, "Such parliamentary operations that throw away the basic cooperation of parliamentary politics must no longer continue," raising his voice.

From the start of the plenary session, lawmakers from both parties engaged in fierce debate over the revote on the Grain Management Act. Kim Seung-nam, a Democratic Party lawmaker, criticized, "President Yoon calls the Grain Management Act, which is the minimum safety net to prevent the collapse of rice prices, a typical populist bill, and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo calls it a 'forced purchase law for surplus rice' that goes against market principles," adding, "This is a law to normalize rice prices to prevent a recurrence of the rice price collapse. How can this be dismissed as populism?" He emphasized, "We must create an era of democratization of rice so that farmers can have decision-making power over rice prices, which have been tightly controlled by the fiscal authorities. Please definitely vote in favor of the revote on the Grain Management Act today."

On the other hand, Park Deok-heum, a People Power Party lawmaker, pointed out, "The government predicts that if the mandatory government purchase of rice is implemented, rice farming will increase significantly," adding, "This will ultimately increase the government's financial burden for rice purchases and may cause issues of fairness with other crops." He continued, "There are opinions that government purchase and expanded support are also needed for Korean beef, ginseng farms, and beekeeping farms, which are suffering from increased production costs and price collapses. If so, will the Democratic Party also create laws such as the Ginseng Management Act, Korean Beef Management Act, and Beekeeping Management Act?" He questioned, "The government has an obligation to strive for fairness to increase the income of all farmers responsible for the nation's food, regardless of the type of crops they cultivate."

Park said, "Therefore, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration promised to implement a strategic crop direct payment system to encourage rice farmers to switch to other crops as rice consumption gradually decreases, and at the same time expand the agricultural direct payment system to guarantee farm income," adding, "Nevertheless, the Democratic Party, which opposed the government's mandatory rice purchase due to financial burden even when it was the ruling party, is now unilaterally pushing it through as the opposition."

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