[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok has abruptly postponed his overseas trip schedule to the United States and Canada. With political attention focused on the Speaker's role in presiding over the passage of the "Geomsu Wanbak" (Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights) bill, interest in Park's mediating role has increased.
On the 20th, the Speaker's office stated that Park "has postponed the planned visit to the US and Canada" and "has requested understanding from the countries to be visited through diplomatic channels."
Park's overseas trip schedule attracted extraordinary attention in relation to the handling of the Geomsu Wanbak bill. If Park proceeds with the overseas trip, the Speaker's presiding rights would be transferred. Feeling the burden as the Speaker over the forced passage of the Geomsu Wanbak bill, there was speculation that if the presiding rights were transferred to Deputy Speaker Kim Sang-hee of the Democratic Party, the bill's passage would become easier. With the People Power Party announcing a filibuster (unlimited debate) to block the Geomsu Wanbak bill, if the Democratic Party's 172 seats fail to secure the 180 seats needed to end the filibuster, it was highly likely that they would respond by splitting the session through the Speaker's presiding rights. For this, the Speaker's cooperation is absolutely essential.
With Park canceling the trip, the Democratic Party's plan to pass the Geomsu Wanbak bill before the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has reached a critical turning point. If Park does not agree to split the session or other measures, the schedule for passing the Geomsu Wanbak bill within the current government will become even more difficult.
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