Constitution Day Marks First Major Turning Point for Parliamentary Normalization... People Power Party to Discuss Response Strategy at General Meeting

Prolonged Negotiations Over Leadership Roles, Including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee
Democratic Party Urges Swift Normalization and Return to the Assembly
People Power Party Deliberates Response Strategies

As negotiations over the composition of the 22nd National Assembly’s leadership for the latter half of its term continue to be delayed, Constitution Day on July 17 is expected to serve as a critical turning point for the normalization of parliamentary operations. The Democratic Party of Korea is urging the opposition parties to return to the National Assembly and calling for the swift completion of the leadership formation process, while the People Power Party plans to gather internal opinions before deciding on its future course of action.

On the afternoon of July 13, the People Power Party will hold a general meeting of its lawmakers at the National Assembly to discuss response strategies regarding the leadership negotiations and the Democratic Party’s push to abolish the supplementary investigation authority. Earlier that morning, Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik met with senior lawmakers including Kwon Young-se, Kim Sang-hoon, Kim Do-eup, Na Kyung-won, and Ahn Cheol-soo to gather opinions on negotiation strategies and future approaches toward the ruling party.

National Assembly plenary session hall, Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Within the party, there is a division between hardliners who insist on maintaining a confrontational stance outside the Assembly and pragmatists who argue that lawmakers should return to the standing committees to block the Democratic Party’s legislative efforts. Chief Spokesperson Park Sung-hoon stated, “We have no intention of passively following the Democratic Party’s lead in negotiations,” adding, “We plan to adopt an alternative bill that preserves the supplementary investigation authority as the official party stance.”

Nevertheless, the People Power Party also recognizes Constitution Day as the first major milestone in the negotiations. This is seen as a consideration of the potential public backlash if the parliamentary deadlock is prolonged, as well as the need to prepare for the operation of the National Assembly and the regular parliamentary session in the second half of the year.

On the morning of the same day, the Democratic Party convened a subcommittee of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to accelerate the review of a Criminal Procedure Act amendment aimed at abolishing the prosecution’s supplementary investigation authority. Democratic Party lawmakers from the Public Administration and Security Committee and the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee held a press conference urging the People Power Party to swiftly return to the Assembly.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Kwanghee remarked, “Normalizing the National Assembly is not a choice but a duty,” and called on the opposition parties to make a responsible decision.

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