Ruling and Opposition Parties Fail to Agree on 'Plenary Session'... Democratic Party Requests Solo Meeting

Ju Ho-young and Park Hong-geun Met Under the Chairmanship of the National Assembly Speaker but Failed to Narrow Differences

Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 1st and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Bomryeong Geum, Juni Park] On the 1st, the ruling and opposition parties discussed whether to convene a plenary session but failed to reach an agreement. Accordingly, the Democratic Party strongly requested Speaker Kim Jin-pyo to hold the plenary session.

On the day, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, and Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, met under the chairmanship of Speaker Kim but could not find common ground.

After the meeting, Floor Leader Joo told reporters, "Floor Leader Park requested, 'Please open the plenary session today and report the dismissal recommendation,' but we strongly requested the Speaker, saying, 'There are no agenda items submitted today and no agreement on the schedule, so the plenary session should not be held today.'"

He added, "I strongly stated that if the plenary session is held today, the most important current issue, the budget bill, cannot meet the legal deadline and will inevitably be lost."

Floor Leader Joo also said, "Tomorrow is the legal deadline for the budget bill, so we must do our best to process the budget bill. However, the plenary session will inevitably be disrupted by such political disputes, and the constitutional deadline will be violated, so the plenary session should not be held today," adding, "Today, I strongly requested that differences of opinion regarding the budget be narrowed as much as possible."

Joo Ho-young, Floor Leader of the People Power Party (Photo by Yonhap News)

On the other hand, Floor Leader Park emphasized, "I think Speaker Kim should open the plenary session," and said, "People Power Party neither processes bills nor holds plenary sessions, so should we just stand by? The plenary session must be held."

Floor Leader Park criticized, "The schedule for the National Assembly plenary session was agreed upon by the ruling and opposition leadership at the start of the regular session, and the Speaker also announced it," adding, "The agreed schedule must naturally be observed."

He also pointed out, "People Power Party has 59 bills ready in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee that can be brought to the plenary session, but they are not scheduling full meetings for review and resolution," and criticized, "While verbally emphasizing livelihood bills, they are showing a double standard by actually avoiding bill processing."

Floor Leader Park said, "In the past, even when there were no agenda items, if a plenary session was already scheduled, it was convened to listen to agenda items and conduct parliamentary procedure speeches," adding, "This is not unprecedented."

The Democratic Party held a party meeting that day and urged the Speaker to convene the plenary session. Floor Leader Park said, "It is a clear dereliction of duty for the Speaker not to open the schedule decided by the ruling and opposition agreement," and "We strongly urge the Speaker to open the plenary session by his decision."

On the day, the Democratic Party floor leadership, including Floor Leader Park, visited the Speaker's office immediately after the party meeting to persuade the Speaker. Democratic Party floor spokesperson Sujin Lee said, "Since the plenary session scheduled for 2 p.m. is not being convened by the Speaker, the floor leadership will immediately visit the Speaker's office to demand the convening of the plenary session."