Joo Ho-young "This is sowing discord... Negotiations broken off according to the firm will of the lawmakers"
On the afternoon of the 30th, Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the United Future Party, is speaking at the nationwide local council members training held at EL Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] As the ruling and opposition parties' agreement on the organization of the 21st National Assembly was finally broken down, some members of the ruling party claimed that the cause of the failure in the negotiation was the veto rumor by Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the United Future Party. In response, Chairman Kim dismissed the claim on the 30th, saying, "I never told anyone what to do."
On the same day, Chairman Kim attended the United Future Party's nationwide local council members' training held at EL Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul. When asked by a reporter about the claim that the chairman's intervention from the Democratic Party of Korea caused the breakdown in the negotiation, he stated, "I delegated full authority for the organization of the assembly to Floor Leader Joo Ho-young," clarifying his position.
Members of the United Future Party also refuted the veto rumor about Kim Jong-in. Floor Leader Joo, who was directly involved in the negotiations with the ruling party, attended a members' meeting and criticized, "The Democratic Party is enjoying a system where they monopolize the National Assembly and are now blaming us for the failure of the organization negotiation. This is a divisive tactic." He emphasized, "We broke off the negotiations according to the firm will of the members, not because of any disagreement among the leadership."
Lee Jun-seok, former Supreme Council member of the United Future Party, appeared on KBS Radio's 'Kim Kyung-rae's Strongest Current Affairs' and argued, "Common sense dictates that the party with power breaks the negotiation, not the weaker one." He added, "From the opposition's perspective, the reason Floor Leader Kim Tae-nyeon had a rigid negotiation stance might be due to the strong position of the Blue House behind it."
On the afternoon of the 30th, at the nationwide local council members training held at EL Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the United Future Party, and Joo Ho-young, the floor leader, are sitting in the waiting room having a conversation. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Earlier, following the failure of the ruling and opposition parties' negotiations, some members of the Democratic Party raised the responsibility of Chairman Kim regarding the Democratic Party's monopoly of 17 out of 18 standing committees, excluding the Intelligence Committee chairmanship.
Democratic Party lawmaker Ko Min-jung, who served as a guest host on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 30th of last month, criticized Chairman Kim's actions, saying, "This is not the direction we should aim for."
Regarding the Democratic Party's unilateral organization of the assembly, Ko asked fellow guest lawmaker Jin Sung-jun, "There are many analyses that Kim Tae-nyeon, the Democratic Party floor leader, was influenced by Chairman Kim Jong-in's intervention in the rejection of the tentative agreement."
In response, Jin said, "I cannot know the internal affairs of the United Future Party in detail, but circumstantially, there seems to be a point where Chairman Kim strongly intervened."
He added, "The second agreement was reached on Sunday afternoon, the weekend, but without procedures like the United Future Party's members' meeting, it was immediately rejected at 10 a.m. on Monday. Looking at that, it seems Floor Leader Joo took the tentative agreement to Chairman Kim for approval but failed to get it."
Democratic Party lawmaker Baek Hye-ryun also speculated about Chairman Kim's opposition to the negotiation breakdown.
Baek appeared on KBS Radio's 'Kim Kyung-rae's Strongest Current Affairs' and said, "On the night of the 28th, the agreement was progressing very well, and a tentative agreement was about to be reached, but overnight it was overturned, leading to the breakdown." She added, "So one can speculate who the United Future Party's floor leadership discussed with overnight before concluding the breakdown. It must have been the party leadership."
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