Ruling and Opposition Parties Clash Over April Extraordinary Session Schedule... "No Agreement Reached"

The floor leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties failed to finalize the schedule for the April plenary session of the National Assembly on March 31. The Democratic Party of Korea insisted that a "standing plenary session" should be held starting April 1. However, the People Power Party maintained that the plenary session should be convened as needed, based on mutual agreement.

Park Sungjoon, Senior Deputy Floor Leader of the Democratic Party, told reporters after the meeting, "I told the Speaker of the National Assembly that we should open a standing plenary session starting April 1, given the need to discuss a supplementary budget, wildfire response measures, issues concerning diplomatically sensitive countries, the attitude of Choi Sangmok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, who purchased U.S. Treasury bonds even during an economic crisis, and furthermore, the serious issue of the constitutional order being undermined." He added, "We need to process bills on April 1 and hold plenary sessions for current issues from April 2 to 4."

However, Park Hyungsoo, Senior Deputy Floor Leader of the People Power Party, responded, "Since the plenary session scheduled for March 27 was postponed due to wildfires, I told Speaker Woo that we could hold a plenary session on April 3, and then, as we agree on the schedule for the April extraordinary session, we could hold an emergency session for current issues for about a day if necessary."

He continued, "Issues concerning sensitive countries have already been thoroughly discussed at the standing committee level, and the public is already well aware of the outcomes. The supplementary budget is being handled by each standing committee, then goes through the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts before reaching the plenary session. To bypass these steps and go straight to a plenary session is neither in line with parliamentary precedent nor with legal principles."

The floor leadership of both parties met twice more in the afternoon, following their morning meeting, each time for about 30 minutes of additional discussion, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement on the plenary session schedule. A fourth meeting was attempted to finalize the schedule, but it also ended without success.

The floor leadership of both parties is expected to meet again on April 1 to continue discussions aimed at finalizing the plenary session schedule.

In the afternoon, the Democratic Party and other opposition parties passed a motion in the Steering Committee to hold plenary sessions from April 1 to 4. The People Power Party boycotted the meeting in protest, calling it a unilateral move by the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party warned that if the nominee Ma is not appointed by April 1, it will make a "major decision." It is reported that the impeachment of both Acting President Han and Deputy Prime Minister Choi is under consideration.

According to procedure, once an impeachment motion is introduced, it must be reported at the first plenary session, and then a vote must be held at a subsequent plenary session held between 24 and 72 hours later.

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