South Korea's rival parties launched a full-scale standoff Wednesday over reorganizing the National Assembly for the second half of its 22nd term. With the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) signaling a push for reform and livelihood legislation while making clear its intent to retain the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the negotiations are expected to face turbulence.
In a first meeting with newly elected People Power Party (PPP) floor leader Chung Jum-sik, DPK floor leader Han Byung-do said, "There was a case in the past when assembly reorganization took 54 days." He added, "Given that we face not only the recent National Election Commission issue but also formidable challenges including the Middle East situation and livelihood matters, let the parties put their heads together and quickly complete the reorganization, even if it takes staying up all night."
Chung responded, "I fully agree that the reorganization must be expedited," but countered, "I believe the Democratic Party, which holds a massive number of seats, must make greater concessions." He continued, "The public is well aware that dialogue between the parties has been severed for years and that the majority party's unilateral dominance has continued." He said, "If this situation continues, both parties will have no choice but to perish together and will ultimately be turned away by the public."
National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik also urged swift negotiations at the meeting of the floor leaders, saying, "To show the public an Assembly that works and an Assembly that looks after people's livelihoods, the reorganization is more urgent than anything else." Cho is reported to have proposed forming a consultative body for livelihood legislation during a closed-door conversation.
The DPK aims to complete the reorganization negotiations by Thursday, but the strong-versus-strong confrontation between the parties over the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chairmanship — the gateway for processing bills — continues. At a Supreme Council meeting that day, Chung argued, "The Democratic Party must officially withdraw its previously declared plan to monopolize all 18 standing committee chairmanships and restore the 'checks and balances' convention in which the largest party takes the Assembly speakership and the second-largest party takes the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chairmanship." He asserted, "That is the first step in responding to the public sentiment of the June 3 local elections."
The DPK is also working to secure the chairmanships of the Political Affairs Committee, which handles matters such as the amendment to the Capital Markets Act, as well as the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, which is directly tied to industrial policy. As a result, the nerve war over the reorganization is expected to continue for some time.
Even after the reorganization is completed, the standoff between the parties is unlikely to subside easily. Observers expect clashes to intensify further over contentious bills, including the so-called "fabricated indictment (prosecution withdrawal) special prosecutor act" being pursued by the DPK, which would grant a special prosecutor the authority to withdraw indictments in cases related to President Lee Jae-myung.
