[News Terms] Can Joguk Innovation Party Become a 'Negotiation Group'?

Lee Jae-myung's Pledge to Ease Negotiating Group Requirement to 10 Seats
Benefits of 'Subsidies' and 'Influence' if Becoming a 'Negotiating Group'

'Negotiation groups (交涉團體)' are groups of lawmakers formed by a certain number of members to discuss parliamentary procedures and important matters, enabling more efficient operation of the legislature. In the Korean National Assembly, they are also called 'floor negotiation groups.'

The National Assembly consists of 300 lawmakers, each a constitutional institution, who gather to discuss and enact legislation and oversee the executive branch. To perform these roles, various administrative procedures related to the operation of the Assembly?such as scheduling plenary sessions, government questioning sessions, the order of questions (speeches), and question time?must be agreed upon and decided in advance.

Representative Jo Guk and elected members of the National Assembly from the Jo Guk Innovation Party held a press conference on the 11th in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, condemning the prosecution and urging an investigation into Mrs. Kim Geon-hee.
[Photo by Kang Jin-hyung]

Since it is difficult to decide these procedures through discussion and agreement among all 300 members, lawmakers form 'negotiation groups,' and through representatives of these groups, various matters related to the operation of the National Assembly are agreed upon and decided.

According to Article 33 of the National Assembly Act, a negotiation group is a political party with 20 or more affiliated members, or a separate negotiation group can be formed by 20 or more members not belonging to other negotiation groups. The representative lawmaker of a negotiation group is usually the party's floor leader, and each negotiation group representative becomes a member of the National Assembly Steering Committee and the Intelligence Committee.

When a party becomes a negotiation group in the National Assembly, it can receive party subsidies funded by taxpayers. Election subsidies are also provided during elections. Negotiation groups share 50% of the total party subsidies, and the remaining half is distributed to each party based on the number of seats and the party's vote share in the most recent general election.

According to the National Election Commission and others, in the 2020 general election, a total of 90.7 billion KRW in party subsidies, including 44 billion KRW in election subsidies, was paid to each negotiation group, and in 2022, when presidential and local elections were held, 140.2 billion KRW was paid. Even in the previous year without elections, the government spent 47.6 billion KRW in party subsidies.

On the 25th of last month, about two weeks before the 22nd National Assembly election (general election), election subsidies were paid. The Democratic Party of Korea received 18.8 billion KRW, the People Power Party 17.7 billion KRW, and the non-parliamentary party Climate Livelihood Party 1.04 billion KRW, respectively. The Climate Livelihood Party, which currently holds no seats, received 2% of the total subsidies because it secured more than 2% (2.08%) of the vote in the 21st general election.

An increase in the number of negotiation groups in the floor means a strengthening of the opposition's political function. Most major issues are handled through agreements among negotiation groups. Therefore, opposition negotiation groups can use their solidarity as a card to pressure the government and ruling party, and some analyses suggest that it is better for opposition parties to remain separate negotiation groups and cooperate rather than merge into one large party. The reason is that having more opposition negotiation groups can exert greater influence in the decision-making process.

Minor parties have long tried to ease the requirements for forming negotiation groups but have not achieved significant results. With the ruling party's defeat in this general election and the emergence of the Party for National Innovation as the third party, 'negotiation groups' are gaining renewed attention.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, pledged after the April 10 general election to ease the floor negotiation group formation requirement from 20 incumbent lawmakers to 10. If Lee's pledge is realized, the Party for National Innovation, which secured 12 proportional representation seats in this election, can become a negotiation group without allying with other parties. The opposition's moves are drawing attention.