National Assembly Concludes Committee Formation Negotiations After One Year... People Power Party to Lead Legislation and Judiciary Committee in Second Half (Comprehensive)

On the 22nd, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok exchanged greetings before holding a meeting with Yoon Ho-jung of the Democratic Party of Korea and Kim Ki-hyun of the People Power Party, the floor leaders of their respective negotiation groups, at the Speaker's office in the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The National Assembly was normalized in the second year of its organization. Speaker Park Byeong-seok and the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties completed the distribution of standing committee chairmanships through negotiations on the organization. The controversial Chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee was significantly reduced in its authority over systematic and grammatical review, and from the second half of the term (next year), it will be held by the opposition party.

On the 23rd, Speaker Park, Democratic Party floor leader Yoon Ho-jung, and People Power Party floor leader Kim Ki-hyun, along with the leadership of both parties, concluded the organization negotiations after several rounds of talks.

For now, the ruling and opposition parties agreed that in the first half of the 21st National Assembly, the ruling party will hold 11 standing committee chairmanships, and the opposition party will hold 7. Floor leader Yoon stated, "The Democratic Party will chair the Operations Committee, Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Strategy and Finance Committee, Science, Technology, Information and Communications Committee, Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, National Defense Committee, Public Administration and Security Committee, Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Business Committee, Health and Welfare Committee, Intelligence Committee, and Gender Equality Committee, while the People Power Party will chair the Political Affairs Committee, Education Committee, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Committee, Environment and Labor Committee, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, and Special Budget and Accounts Committee."

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which had been a point of sharp disagreement between the parties, will be chaired by the ruling party in the first half and by the opposition party in the second half. However, the authority of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which had reigned as a 'Senate,' will be significantly weakened.

Floor leader Kim stated, "The chairmanships in the second half will be determined according to the number of seats held by negotiation groups, but the Legislation and Judiciary Committee will be chaired by the People Power Party." He added, "The 120-day period stipulated in Article 86, Paragraph 3 of the National Assembly Act, which regulates systematic and grammatical review, will be shortened to 60 days, and Paragraph 5 will be newly established to prohibit reviewing bills beyond the scope of systematic and grammatical review." Even if a bill passes a standing committee, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's period to hold it without reason will now be reduced to two months, and the authority for systematic and grammatical review will be more strictly limited.

Floor leader Yoon emphasized, "The Legislation and Judiciary Committee had been stigmatized as a committee that bullied other standing committees, but through this opportunity, the functions of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee have been adjusted, opening a path for it to become a normal standing committee."

Floor leader Kim said, "When the 21st National Assembly begins, the organization was formed through a very abnormal method after much pain. Now, as part of efforts to restore abnormality to normality, an agreement on the distribution of standing committees between the ruling and opposition parties has been reached."