Opposition pushes two special prosecutors, four national audits

The Democratic Party of Korea announced on Friday, “We must hold a plenary session on Monday to complete the formation of the remaining seven standing committees for which we have not yet elected chairs.” National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik previously asked for an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, indicating that the delayed composition of the National Assembly should now be completed. In response, the People Power Party objected, insisting that negotiations could only resume if the Democratic Party returned to square one, starting with the sole election of chairs for 11 standing committees, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Steering Committee. On this day, People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho proposed an open debate to Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae on National Assembly composition negotiations. Still, floor leader Park did not give an official answer. Concerns are growing that the ongoing stalemate in the National Assembly, which has persisted for five days, may be prolonged.

At the Supreme Council meeting, floor leader Park urged, “The Speaker of the National Assembly must now make a decision,” and requested a plenary session on the 17th to complete the formation of the seven standing committees. The Democratic Party also began attacking the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. They plan to simultaneously pursue two special prosecutions, the Corporal Chae Special Prosecutor Act and the Kim Keon Hee Special Prosecutor Act, as well as four government investigations related to the ‘Corporal Chae death incident,’ ‘suspicion of preferential treatment on the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway,’ ‘East Sea deep-sea oil field development,’ and ‘broadcast control.’

On this day, the solo formation of standing committees continued for the fourth day. The Legislative and Judiciary Committee referred the ‘Corporal Chae Special Prosecutor Act’ to the subcommittee, as allocated by Chairman Chung Cheong-rae. The Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee held a general meeting with the opposition party alone, submitting the broadcasting-related law adopted by the Democratic Party the previous day.

Meanwhile, the People Power Party, which boycotted the standing committee, demanded “a complete abolition of the original composition.” Floor Leader Choo, in his concluding remarks at a general meeting of lawmakers, said, “Restoring parliamentary politics must begin with completely abolishing the wrong composition of the Floor,” and demanded that the Democratic Party return the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, the Steering Committee, and the Overseas Defense Committee to the starting point for negotiations. Whether to accept the remaining seven standing committee chairs remains unresolved, with Choo stating, “I will decide after further collecting the opinions of the members.”


Ji-Hyun Kim jhk85@donga.com