The Democratic Party of Korea held the first plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Wednesday amid a boycott by the People Power Party (PPP), appointing a secretary and processing a proposal to form the First Legislative Review Subcommittee. The Democratic Party plans to accelerate prosecution reform and livelihood legislation, including tabling a revision to the Criminal Procedure Act at the First Subcommittee next week.
Suh Young-kyo of the Democratic Party, who chairs the committee, said at the meeting, "We convened the first plenary session to normalize the operation of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee as quickly as possible and to review and process livelihood bills." She added, "We will faithfully review key pending bills, including the revision to the Criminal Procedure Act and the special act on statutes of limitations for state crimes."
The meeting proceeded amid a boycott by the PPP, which had objected to the Democratic Party's unilateral election of the committee chair on June 30. The committee appointed Democratic Party Rep. Kim Seung-won as the ruling party secretary and approved a proposal to form the First Legislative Review Subcommittee with nine members: five from the Democratic Party, three from the PPP, and one from a non-negotiating bloc. However, the committee decided to receive the list of the PPP's subcommittee members by July 6.
Explaining the upcoming schedule after the meeting, Chair Suh said, "After forming the subcommittee on July 7, we plan to table about 100 bills, including our own bills and those referred from other standing committees, and send them to the First Subcommittee." She added that "the revision to the Criminal Procedure Act is also included," and said, "We will process reform legislation and livelihood legislation as quickly as possible."
The Democratic Party aims to process the revision to the Criminal Procedure Act within July in line with the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office. Rep. Kim Yong-min said, "There are only 92 days left until the launch of the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Office on October 2." He added, "We must pass the Criminal Procedure Act this month so that the government can prepare without any disruption."
Chair Suh also repeatedly urged the PPP to return promptly. "I request that the PPP come in quickly and join in livelihood and reform legislation," she said. "Our train departs on schedule as planned." Newly appointed secretary Kim Seung-won also stressed, "If you have different opinions, submit the list of committee members and debate confidently here." He added, "You should not delay the assembly's organization or bring the National Assembly to a halt."
Earlier, the Democratic Party completed a partial organization of the National Assembly on June 30, when it unilaterally elected chairs of 11 standing committees, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, at a plenary session. As negotiations between the rival parties on assembly organization stalled for more than a month, the Democratic Party began operating the standing committees, excluding the seven committee chairmanships it had left for the PPP. In response, the PPP objected, calling it a unilateral organization by the Democratic Party, and has continued its stance of boycotting the standing committees.
