Salary of 3 Billion Won Paid Steadily... Negotiations for Assembly Formation Delayed Again

Conflict Continues Over Lawmakers' Committee Allocation
Public Official Shooting and Special Committee on Criminal Justice Also Cause Disputes
On the 22nd, Democratic Party Proposed Meeting with Both Parties' Floor Leaders but Canceled... Concerns Over Prolonged Legislative Vacuum

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] As the reorganization of the National Assembly's second half has been delayed for three weeks, calls for lawmakers to return their salaries (allowances) have emerged, but the likelihood of this happening appears slim. The core issue is to speed up the reorganization rather than the salary return itself. However, with no progress in the reorganization negotiations even on the 24th day, the legislative vacuum is expected to be prolonged. Although the two major parties, feeling the pressure of this situation, were expected to hold a decisive meeting between floor leaders, the meeting proposal was canceled again amid a power struggle.

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Emergency Measures Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 22nd and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 22nd, the Democratic Party officially proposed a floor leader meeting to the People Power Party during a morning meeting but withdrew the proposal less than an hour after the meeting.

Park Hong-geun, the Democratic Party floor leader, said at an emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, "We will verify whether the ruling party is sincere about normalizing the legislature and negotiating with the opposition," and added, "I propose to meet with Kwon Seong-dong, the People Power Party floor leader, today for an open and frank dialogue." After five meetings between deputy floor leaders up to the 21st failed to make progress, the idea was to have the floor leaders settle the matter directly. However, right after the Democratic Party meeting, media reports emerged from the People Power Party side claiming that "the Democratic Party demanded the withdrawal of lawsuits against Assemblyman Lee Jae-myung as a condition for the reorganization negotiations," which disrupted the floor leaders' meeting proposal.

In the reorganization negotiations, the ruling and opposition parties have repeatedly faced difficulties over the allocation of the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. At the previous deputy leaders' meeting, the People Power Party requested the formation of a special committee to investigate the shooting of a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, while the Democratic Party mentioned the formation of a National Assembly Special Committee on Judicial Reform and the implementation of agreements on prosecutorial reform, adding more conditions to the reorganization agreement.

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, attended the 'Innovation 24 New Future' forum held at the National Assembly on the 22nd. Before the event started, he was seen talking with former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik. 'Innovation 24 New Future' is a study group formed by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun. On this day, former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik was invited to give a lecture on the theme of 'Challenges of the Era, Social Integration, and Political Advancement.' Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Additionally, Kwon Seong-dong, the People Power Party floor leader, revealed three conditions set by the Democratic Party during the ‘Innovation 24 New Future’ meeting held at the National Assembly that morning: withdrawal of the constitutional complaint related to the passage of the "complete revision of the prosecution investigation" (검수완박) bill, withdrawal of lawsuits filed during the presidential election, and operation of the Special Committee on Judicial Reform. He criticized the Democratic Party for "continuously attaching unrelated conditions to the reorganization." Among these, the condition to withdraw lawsuits filed during the presidential election was interpreted as being for Assemblyman Lee, which angered the Democratic Party.

Floor leader Park said, "Not even the letter 'Lee' from Lee Jae-myung's name was mentioned," and added, "Please correct the distortion of facts, and if the People Power Party does not apologize, I will not meet today."

As the gap between the ruling and opposition parties remains wide and signs of a prolonged legislative vacuum appear, voices calling for lawmakers to return their salaries are growing.

On the 16th, Democratic Party Assemblyman Lee Won-wook posted on Facebook, "A ghost National Assembly that cannot reorganize should declare no work, no pay, and return their salaries." Considering the 24 days of deadlock, the total amount of salaries lawmakers should return reaches 3.024 billion KRW. However, the possibility of salary return becoming a reality is slim. In 2008, the Grand National Party had first-term lawmakers return about 7 million KRW each, and in 2009, the Democratic Party returned 10% of their salaries. However, in the 21st National Assembly, talk of ‘self-return’ disappeared. Although bills have been proposed to cut allowances and legislative activity expenses if lawmakers do not attend meetings, none have passed the full committee and reached the plenary session.

Professor Choi Chang-ryeol of Yongin University assessed, "Because their interests are directly connected, returning salaries will not be easy."