Ruling and Opposition Parties to Speed Up Review of U.S. Investment Special Act... "Will Not Raise Ratification Approval Issue" (Comprehensive)

Special parliamentary committee to operate for one month
Bill expected to pass by early next month

The ruling and opposition parties have agreed to form a special committee in the National Assembly to handle the Special Act on Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Management (U.S. Investment Special Act).

On the 4th at the National Assembly, the ruling and opposition floor leaders signed the agreement and issued a joint statement after agreeing to form a special committee on the U.S. Investment Special Act. From left in the photo: Yoo Sangbeom, Senior Deputy Floor Leader of the People Power Party; Song Eonseok, Floor Leader of the People Power Party; Han Byungdo, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea; Chun Junho, Senior Deputy Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Provided by Yonhap News

Han Byungdo, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Song Eonseok, Floor Leader of the People Power Party, told reporters on the 4th after a meeting at the National Assembly that they had reached a consensus on this plan.

The U.S. Investment Special Act was proposed in November last year following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on tariff agreements between Korea and the United States. The bill includes provisions such as the establishment of an investment fund to expand investment in the United States. In a situation where U.S. President Donald Trump has mentioned the possibility of raising tariffs, citing the Korean National Assembly's "failure to legislate," the agreement between the ruling and opposition parties to establish a special committee is seen as an effort to accelerate deliberations on the bill.

The special committee will operate for one month and will conduct intensive review of the bill. Accordingly, the U.S. Investment Special Act is expected to complete the committee's approval procedures by early next month at the latest.

The special committee will consist of 16 members in total, and the chair will be from the People Power Party. The committee will be composed of 8 members from the Democratic Party of Korea, 7 from the People Power Party, and 1 from a non-negotiating group, and will include at least one member each from the Political Affairs Committee, the Strategy and Finance Committee, and the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee.

The ruling and opposition parties plan to pass a resolution to form the special committee at a plenary session of the National Assembly on the 9th, which will be held in line with the schedule for interpellations to the government.

Until now, the People Power Party has maintained a cautious stance on prioritizing the special act, arguing that the MOU on the tariff agreement requires ratification and consent by the National Assembly. However, during the latest agreement process, the parties decided not to make the ratification issue a point of contention at the special committee discussion stage.

Regarding the background to this change in stance, Floor Leader Song explained, "Our basic position that ratification is necessary remains unchanged, but there are practical constraints," adding, "From the perspective of the national interest, we have concluded that it is urgent to first pass the bill, which is a pending issue."

Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties have agreed to hold a plenary session of the National Assembly on the 12th to pass non-controversial bills on which they have mutually agreed. As a result, the so-called judicial reform bills promoted by the Democratic Party of Korea, including bills related to the crime of distorting the law, are not expected to be included on the agenda of this plenary session.

Floor Leader Han said, "Our basic position of handling reform and livelihood-related bills together during the February session of the National Assembly remains unchanged," and added, "We will continue to work to persuade the opposition parties on the reform bills going forward."

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