Park Byeong-seok, Speaker: "'Gatekeeper' Legislation and Judiciary Committee Needs Reform... Both Ruling and Opposition Must Change with a 'Jultakdongsi' Attitude"

1st Anniversary Press Conference of Speaker Park Byeong-seok on the 21st
"The Major Premise of Ruling and Opposition Negotiations is Reforming the Legislation and Judiciary Committee... Overwhelming Power Must Be Corrected"
"Hope the Vacancy of the Deputy Speaker and Standing Committee Chair Issues Are Handled Separately"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Park Byeong-seok, Speaker of the National Assembly, urged the ruling and opposition parties, who are in conflict over the position of the chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, to adopt a "Jultakdongsi" approach, which means "the chick must break the eggshell both from inside and outside when hatching," saying, "Since the leadership of both parties has changed, new coordination is necessary," calling for a change in attitude.

Park Byeong-seok, Speaker of the National Assembly, who is celebrating his first anniversary in office, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 21st, Speaker Park made this remark in response to a question about how to mediate between the ruling and opposition parties, who are engaged in a power struggle over the chairmanship of the standing committees of the National Assembly, during a press conference marking his first anniversary in office.

Speaker Park emphasized, "The audience has changed," adding, "The ruling party must heed the sharp criticism that it has failed to show tolerance to the opposition and has acted unilaterally due to holding 180 seats, and the opposition must pay close attention to the fact that the people are attaching new meaning to the results of the April 7 by-elections." He explained that both parties need to change to meet the expectations the public has placed on the opposition.

He also stressed the need for reform of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, as there are problems with the powerful position of its chairmanship. Citing the example that 91 bills passed by various standing committees during the 20th National Assembly were discarded because they failed to pass the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Speaker Park said, "The fundamental premise of negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties is reform of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. It is necessary to correct the fact that the chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee holds overwhelming power as the gatekeeper of all laws."

He requested that the issue of the vacant vice-speaker position, which has not been resolved due to disputes over the distribution of standing committee chairmanships, be handled separately.

Speaker Park also called for the prompt passage of the Sejong Government Complex issue by the National Assembly.

He said, "By agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, 14.7 billion won was included in this year's budget for the design costs of the National Assembly Sejong Assembly Hall," adding, "At the last meeting of the floor leaders in April, it was decided to establish the legal basis and process it by June, so now the promise must be kept." He explained that since the metropolitan area accounts for only 11.7% of the total land area but has over 50% of the population, national balanced development must be achieved through bipartisan agreement to solve problems related to real estate, housing, transportation, and regional extinction.

Regarding the 'Lee Jun-seok phenomenon' in the People Power Party, he said, "For the Lee Jun-seok wave to continue as a phenomenon and trend, there must be policy competition and vision competition that gain public consensus," and requested, "I hope it will be a time for practical political restoration for both the ruling and opposition parties."