Speaker Jo Meets With Ruling and Opposition Parties... Opposition: "We Presented Alternatives," Ruling Party: "The Moment for a Decision Is Coming"

Speaker's Office: "If No Conclusion by Constitution Day, Will Consider Plenary Session Next Week"

The floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties met on July 14 under the auspices of Speaker of the National Assembly Jo Jung-sik to discuss the formation of the latter half of the 22nd National Assembly, but little progress was made. The ruling party stated, "A moment will inevitably come when we will have no other choice but to make another decision for the livelihood of the people," while the opposition party described the talks as "feeling like talking to a brick wall."

Han Byung-do, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Chung Jeom-sik, floor leader of the People Power Party, along with chief deputy floor leaders from both sides, held a "2+2 meeting" chaired by Speaker Jo at the National Assembly for about 30 minutes that afternoon. Afterwards, speaking to reporters, they disclosed the results. Earlier, the Democratic Party had unilaterally elected 11 standing committee chairs, including the highly contested chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, after negotiations on committee formation broke down. In response, the People Power Party is boycotting all parliamentary schedules.

Speaker of the National Assembly Jo Jung-sik (center) is meeting with Han Byung-do, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (left), and Chung Jeom-sik, floor leader of the People Power Party, at the National Assembly office on June 22, 2026. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Speaker Jo, once again urging both parties to conclude committee formation negotiations by July 16, the day before Constitution Day, saw the meeting that day also end without results. The inability to bridge differences over the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee remains the key obstacle. The ruling and opposition parties are each insisting on their respective stances: the need for swift government cooperation and, alternatively, the need to keep the government and ruling party in check.

During the meeting, the People Power Party proposed that, in exchange for allowing the Democratic Party to take the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, a system be institutionalized for the 23rd National Assembly whereby the largest party would choose the Speaker first, after which the first and second largest parties would alternate selecting one standing committee chair each. However, this proposal met no success.

When asked if he would be willing to concede the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chairmanship if the Democratic Party accepted the proposal, Floor Leader Chung said, "Yes." However, he added, "Given that the Democratic Party has not accepted it, I question the point of continuing these negotiations. I am very skeptical about future talks."

Floor Leader Chung also commented, "At a time when the people's voices must be represented—in matters such as amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act (abolition of supplementary investigation rights) and the introduction of a special prosecutor for the National Election Commission—I sincerely apologize to the public for the stalled committee formation negotiations. On the other hand, I am also seriously considering whether there is any point in entering the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at all, given that checks and balances have already collapsed."

Floor Leader Han drew a line regarding the People Power Party's proposal, saying, "It was not a meaningful discussion or negotiation. There was no advance deliberation or discussion of it." However, he added, regarding the specifics of the proposal, "As the matter is still under discussion, it is difficult to speak about it publicly."

The ruling party foreshadowed unilateral action. Floor Leader Han said, "Ultimately, it is the public who suffers," and added, "If it becomes clear that the opposition has no intention of discussing committee formation, we can no longer afford to wait. If so, a moment will inevitably come when we will have no other choice but to make another decision for the sake of addressing people's livelihoods and the economy."

As both sides remain deadlocked, Speaker Jo is now considering convening a plenary session to elect the remaining vacant committee chairpersons. Jang Hyeon-joo, chief public relations secretary to the Speaker, told reporters that day, "In fact, we have urged both parties to reach an agreement on committee formation within today or tomorrow."

Jang added, "Since the first round of committee formation on June 30, the Speaker has already waited for the plenary session to be convened three times. With Constitution Day approaching, there is no longer room to wait. If a conclusion is not reached before Constitution Day, holding another plenary session next week may be unavoidable."

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