Ruling Party Signals Push for Committee Chairs and Prime Minister Approval... Will People Power Party Boycott?

"Speaker Should Rein in the Ruling Party's Rush to Form Committees"
Refusal to Adopt Hearing Report for Han Seongsook Nominee

As the Democratic Party of Korea is proceeding to unilaterally elect standing committee chairs and approve the appointment of Han Seong-sook as Prime Minister at the National Assembly plenary session on the 30th, the People Power Party has issued an emergency standby order to its lawmakers, signaling a counteraction.

Jeong Jeomsik, the floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 30th.

Jeong Jeongsik, floor leader of the People Power Party, stated at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, "President Lee Jaemyung said, 'The ruling and opposition parties are partners who must protect the lives of the people and pioneer the nation's future on behalf of the sovereign.' The first step to putting this into practice is to normalize the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee."

Regarding National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeongsik, Jeong said, "When negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties reach an impasse, the Speaker should act as a mature mediator, but instead, he is agreeing to hold today's plenary session as demanded by the Democratic Party. As Speaker, he should put the brakes on the ruling party's arrogant rush to organize the Assembly's committees."

The ruling and opposition parties have held more than ten rounds of negotiations over the formation of Assembly committees up until the previous day, but have failed to make any meaningful progress. This is primarily because there has been no movement regarding which party will secure the position of Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair. In response, the Democratic Party is considering measures such as electing all 11 standing committee chairs, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, in advance.

The People Power Party is also refusing to adopt the hearing report for the prime minister nominee. Kim Taekyu, the party's chief spokesperson, told reporters, "She was already deemed unsuitable for a ministerial post, so appointing her as Prime Minister is excessive. Given the many issues that surfaced during the confirmation hearing, it is difficult for us to agree."

The Democratic Party, while stating that it will continue negotiations until the last minute, is also making clear its intention to push ahead if necessary. Lee Juhee, the party's floor spokesperson, said, "We plan to do everything possible to ensure negotiations continue until the very end today. Since the situation this afternoon is uncertain, it looks like lawmakers will remain on emergency standby into the evening."

The People Power Party has also issued a standby order to its lawmakers and plans to hold a general assembly of its members in the afternoon to discuss a response. Spokesperson Kim told reporters, "It is difficult to definitively say we will boycott the plenary session, and the floor leader is still considering specific measures. There is no separate negotiation schedule, but we are open to talks if necessary."

Regarding the distribution of committee positions, spokesperson Kim also stated, "The ruling party's insistence on holding the Legislation and Judiciary Committee is an attempt to shield the President from judicial risks, so it is our position that this issue must be resolved. However, it is not the stage to discuss the distribution of committees; we are not currently negotiating on this."

There is a possibility that the ruling and opposition parties may meet again before the plenary session, but many both inside and outside the parties believe the chances of a breakthrough are slim. Both sides have made securing the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee their top priority, resulting in a standoff with neither side willing to compromise. The People Power Party has drawn a line in the sand, declaring the committee is "the minimum safeguard against unchecked government power," and stating it will forgo all 18 standing committee chair positions if it does not secure this post.

Meanwhile, floor leader Jeong said the party would consider conducting a parliamentary investigation into the government's project to establish a semiconductor cluster in the southwestern region. The People Power Party's basic position is that the creation of the cluster should proceed only when competition to attract businesses among local governments and the right of each company to make its own decisions are fully guaranteed.

Spokesperson Kim added, "If the heads of the two major companies (Samsung and SK), who were initially somewhat negative, changed their stance in just a few days, the reason for this must be revealed so the public can accept it. If the vetting process was sufficient, the public would accept it, but if not, it could be seen as a new form of collusion between politics and business."

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