Ballot Shortage Dispute... Ruling and Opposition Parties in Standoff Over Parliamentary Probe and Assembly Composition Negotiations

Democratic Party Pushes for Parliamentary Probe, People Power Party Counters with Special Counsel
Calls for Rerun Emerge... Election Commission Dispute Widens
Tensions Rise over Assembly Leadership Negotiations and Judiciary Committee

The ruling and opposition parties have entered a standoff over a parliamentary investigation into the National Election Commission, which caused the recent “ballot shortage crisis,” as well as negotiations for the composition of the National Assembly for the second half of its term.

Han Byungdo, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at a party countermeasures meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of June 9, “The People Power Party is turning this incident into a political dispute,” adding, “At a time when citizens’ voting rights are being seriously infringed upon, the responsibility of a major party is to thoroughly uncover the facts, punish those responsible, and come up with measures to prevent recurrence.”

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Bae Jaeman = Cho Jung-sik, a Democratic Party lawmaker who was elected as the Speaker of the 22nd National Assembly's second half, is delivering a victory speech at the "436th National Assembly (Extraordinary Session) 1st Plenary Session" held at the National Assembly on June 5, 2026. scoop@yna.co.kr (End)

The Democratic Party plans to submit the parliamentary investigation plan this week, pass it next week, and then form a special committee for the investigation. Separately, the party intends to establish an internal task force for election system reform and begin work on amending the Public Official Election Act and Election Commission Act.

The People Power Party is also pushing for an independent counsel investigation in addition to the parliamentary probe. Yoo Sangbeom, chief deputy floor leader, told reporters at the National Assembly that “We are preparing to submit the special prosecutor bill today.” The opposition’s request for a parliamentary investigation includes a plan to form the special committee with an equal number of members from both parties. Discussions are also underway about granting the opposition the right to recommend the special prosecutor.

Separately, calls for a rerun of the election are growing within the People Power Party, led by party leader Jang Donghyuk. At an emergency press conference held that morning, Jang stated, “We must immediately pass the special prosecutor bill, and the Election Commission must declare the election invalid and hold a new election.” He also insisted, “The number of main voting days should be increased and early voting should be abolished altogether.”

Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties are also expected to clash over the composition of the Assembly. The People Power Party will elect a new floor leader on June 10. Han, the Democratic Party floor leader, said, “Negotiations must be concluded by June 18.” Unlike its initial stance of seeking to monopolize the posts, the Democratic Party is now considering a plan to allocate 11 standing committee chairmanships to the ruling party and 7 to the opposition party.

However, Han firmly stated that the Democratic Party will never concede the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. In addition, the party insists on controlling major economic committees, such as the Planning and Finance, Political Affairs, and Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committees. If negotiations stall, the Democratic Party may move to monopolize all standing committee chairmanships.

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