On September 2, 2025, at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly, Na Kyungwon, a member of the People Power Party, is greeting Chu Mi-ae, the chairperson. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

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The so-called "Chu-Na Battle" between Chu Mi-ae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and Na Kyungwon, who has been nominated as the People Power Party's secretary for the committee, has entered full swing. With tensions rising over the appointment of the committee secretary and the formation of subcommittees, clashes during the regular National Assembly session appear inevitable.

On September 2, Chairperson Chu included the following items on the agenda for the morning plenary session: ▲Adoption of the plan for a public hearing on prosecution reform ▲Request for submission of documents. Until the previous day, she had also announced that ▲the appointment of the secretary would be on the agenda, but later withdrew it.

Assemblywoman Na interpreted this as an attempt to block her appointment as secretary and visited Chairperson Chu to protest just before the plenary session. During the session, Na was seated next to Assemblyman Kwak Gyutaek of the People Power Party, according to alphabetical order, rather than in the secretary's seat. In her opening remarks, Na stated, "The Legislation and Judiciary Committee must ensure that the spirit of bipartisan agreement is respected in the National Assembly. Please put the appointment of the secretary on the agenda for agreement between the secretaries." However, her request was not accepted.

Song Unseok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on September 2, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

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The People Power Party completed the resignation and replacement process for Assemblyman Park Hyungsoo, who previously served as secretary, the day before. Only the committee's agenda listing and voting process remain for Na to be officially appointed as secretary. Assemblyman Kwak commented in a phone call, "Suddenly withdrawing the agenda item likely means they do not intend to appoint the secretary."

In fact, the Democratic Party is opposed to Na's appointment as secretary. The party leadership is considering not listing the appointment on the agenda at all or putting it to a vote and rejecting it. Democratic Party spokesperson Kim Jiho said in a statement the previous day, "Assemblywoman Na has been on trial for six years as a defendant in the National Assembly fast-track clash case," and urged, "The People Power Party must immediately withdraw the appointment of Assemblywoman Na as secretary of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee."

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According to Article 50 of the National Assembly Act, each standing committee is to have one secretary from each negotiation group, but there is no provision specifying who has the authority to appoint the secretary. Until now, it has been customary for each party to appoint its own secretary. There is also no precedent for rejecting a secretary appointment through a vote. A committee official expressed concern, saying, "In the worst-case scenario, Chairperson Chu might unilaterally appoint someone else as secretary through a majority vote."

Tensions are also mounting over the formation of subcommittees within the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The previous day, People Power Party members of the committee protested Chairperson Chu's unilateral composition of the committee and demanded her resignation. They argued that she arbitrarily assigned members to the first subcommittee for bill review, increasing its size from 8 to 11 members.

In response, the People Power Party announced that it is considering future measures such as boycotting the committee or filing a complaint against Chairperson Chu with the National Assembly Ethics Committee. The Democratic Party explained that it had attempted to discuss the increase in committee members, but proceeded with the subcommittee assignments because the People Power Party did not respond.

Choo Mi-ae, Chairperson of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, is giving an opening remark at the on-site inspection held at Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province on the 1st. On this day, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee plans to verify whether former President Yoon Seok-youl received any special treatment during his detention and to check, through reviewing CCTV and other video records, whether there was any resistance from former President Yoon when he was asked to appear before the special prosecutor by removing his clothes. September 1, 2025 Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

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