On June 30, the Democratic Party proceeded with the election of chairs for 11 committees in the National Assembly after final negotiations with the People Power Party failed regarding the organization for the second half of the assembly. The Democratic Party stated that this was an unavoidable choice for a functioning National Assembly, while the People Power Party boycotted the vote, declaring, "There will be no negotiations without normalization of the organization."
During the National Assembly session led by the Democratic Party, new chairs were elected for the Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Seo Young-kyu), the Operations Committee (Han Byeong-do), the Political Affairs Committee (Yoo Dong-soo), the Finance Committee (Jo Seung-rae), the Science and Technology Committee (Song Gi-hun), the Interior and Safety Committee (Kim Young-jin), the National Defense Committee (Jin Sung-jun), the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee (Lee Jae-jeong), the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee (Seo Sam-seok), the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts (Lee Kwang-jae), and the Environment and Labor Committee (Kim Jeong-ho).
Chun Jun-ho, the Democratic Party's floor leader, announced the list and told reporters, "The Democratic Party has taken 11 committees based on the ratio of seats, while also considering the People Power Party's position."
However, some critics have labeled the Democratic Party's control of both the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and key economic committees, such as the Political Affairs and Finance Committees, as unilateral.
In response, Chun explained, "The People Power Party held the Political Affairs and Finance Committees in the first half, but there were difficulties in promoting national agenda items. We judged that it would be better for us to take charge since the processing of bills was quite low."
The People Power Party is expected to retain the seven committees that were not elected that day, including the Education Committee, Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Industry and Trade Committee, Welfare Committee, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, Intelligence Committee, and Gender Equality and Family Committee.
Jung Jeom-sik, the People Power Party's floor leader, criticized National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo during a party meeting, suggesting that he had not maintained political neutrality in the second half of the assembly's organization, saying, "Perhaps he should consider working with the Democratic Party."
Additionally, People Power Party lawmakers protested during the session, holding signs that read, "Stop the Democratic Party's attempt to monopolize committees" and "Democratic Party's reckless pressure on the National Assembly's organization."
Earlier, Speaker Kim had met with the floor leaders of both parties, demanding the submission of committee member lists according to National Assembly law. After the People Power Party repeatedly failed to submit the lists, he took the drastic step of enforcing a distribution.
In this context, the People Power Party announced that Speaker Kim had forcibly appointed members to the 11 committees and submitted a formal notice regarding the resignation of its members from those committees to the National Assembly's secretariat. This was a countermeasure against the Democratic Party's unilateral handling of the committees.
Jung warned reporters outside the assembly hall, "We will not respond to the People Power Party's one-sided approach to organization without negotiations or the distribution of leftovers. There will be no negotiations or cooperation without normalization of the organization."
He further emphasized to the Democratic Party, "If you want it so badly, take all the power. But from now on, the responsibility for governance lies entirely with the Democratic Party." The conflict between the Democratic Party and the People Power Party is expected to intensify in the future.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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