Stalemate on Holding Public Hearing Before National Audit
Opposition: "Requested 'Public Hearing in September' but Ruling Party Rejected"
Ruling Party: "Must Proceed After Inter-Ministerial Coordination"
Public Hearing Necessary for Enactment of Legislation
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] After the Sindang Station stalking murder case, the National Assembly announced follow-up measures such as enacting laws to prevent stalking crimes and holding public hearings, but the ruling party's opposition has slowed down the scheduling of the public hearings.
A source from the office of Yoo Jung-joo, the opposition party whip of the National Assembly's Women and Family Committee from the Democratic Party, stated in a phone interview with this outlet on the 30th, "The opposition requested the ruling party to push for a public hearing in September, but the ruling party refused."
He added, "The ruling party cited government reasons and suggested holding it in October, but it seems like they are just postponing it," and explained, "The procedure is to hold a public hearing before the National Assembly inspection, then proceed through the inspection and subcommittee before sending it to the Judiciary Committee, but we are frustrated because we cannot even hold the public hearing."
According to the National Assembly Act, when a standing committee passes a bill, a public hearing or a hearing must be held. To hold a public hearing, at least one-third of the total members must agree, so the Democratic Party, which has 10 out of 17 members, can push this forward on its own.
However, the opposition claims that since both ruling and opposition parties agree on the need to devise measures to punish stalking crimes and protect victims, they expected active cooperation. The longer the public hearing discussions are delayed, the more time it takes to discuss the legislation.
In fact, on the 16th, Song Seok-jun of the People Power Party proposed the "Stalking Punishment Act Amendment" which includes deleting the provision of the crime of non-prosecution by the victim's consent and tracking the location of stalking offenders. Last year, Nam In-soon of the Democratic Party also proposed a bill to abolish the crime of non-prosecution by the victim's consent, but it remains pending. Currently, there are 14 proposed amendments to the Stalking Punishment Act registered in the National Assembly's bill information system.
However, the ruling party maintains that they cannot hold a public hearing immediately because inter-ministerial coordination has not been completed. A source from the office of Jung Kyung-hee, the ruling party whip from the People Power Party, rebutted, "I understand that the government ministries are still in the process of consultation and coordination," and added, "The position is to hold the public hearing after inter-ministerial consultation."
He also said, "'Min-sik's Law' (the Road Traffic Act amendment and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes) was rushed and later declared unconstitutional," and added, "Since this is a statute, the bill must be carefully drafted."
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