Park Hong-geun "Speaker of the National Assembly, Abuse of Authority"... Pressure to Hold Plenary Session Today

Chairman in Deliberation Amid Backdoor Talks with Floor Leaders of Both Parties
Opposition: "Additional Plenary Session to be Convened by Next Monday"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Park Hong-geun, floor leader, are attending the expanded executive meeting held at the National Assembly on the 2nd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The opposition parties, demanding the convening of a plenary session of the National Assembly to process the 'Motion to Dismiss Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min,' have once again urged the Speaker of the National Assembly to convene the plenary session on the 2nd and hold additional meetings next week. As the ruling and opposition parties are locked in a standoff over the dismissal motion and the budget bill, all eyes are on the Speaker's decision.

Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at the party's expanded executive meeting that "the Speaker of the National Assembly arbitrarily did not convene the plenary session scheduled for yesterday," criticizing that "the Speaker's unilateral cancellation of the schedule agreed upon by both parties is an overreach and abuse of authority." He added, "Today is the legal deadline for processing next year's budget bill. The plenary session must be held to await the final settlement of the budget bill," and "I strongly request that an additional plenary session be convened by next Monday to process the dismissal motion and other agenda items."

The day before, the Democratic Party planned to hold a plenary session in the afternoon to report and put the dismissal motion against Minister Lee on the agenda, but Speaker Kim Jin-pyo did not decide to convene the session. The plenary sessions on the 1st and 2nd were previously agreed upon by both parties.

With the convening time requested by the opposition party delayed by a day, Speaker Kim is reportedly continuing behind-the-scenes negotiations with the floor leaders of both parties. On the same day, Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Sang-ho appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "As far as I know, (Speaker Kim) is making mediation efforts to come up with an answer regarding Minister Lee's position if possible," adding, "I understand that he is not just unilaterally demanding an agreement and holding firm." A spokesperson from the Speaker's office also explained in a phone call, "I understand that they are in frequent contact with the floor leaders of both parties." At 11 a.m. that day, the floor leaders of both parties planned to meet at the Speaker's office to discuss the convening of the plenary session and whether to put the dismissal motion on the agenda.

The opposition parties claim that the ruling party is tying up the dismissal motion and the budget bill processing to block progress. The People Power Party insists on dealing with the dismissal motion after processing next year's budget bill, while the Democratic Party counters that the plenary session must be held to report and approve the dismissal motion. Floor leader Park said, "The budget should be handled as the budget, bills as bills, parliamentary investigations as parliamentary investigations, and dismissal as dismissal, all proceeding normally," adding, "It is the People Power Party and the Yoon Seok-yeol administration that are creating a deadlock by tying these issues together."

If the ruling and opposition parties fail to reach an agreement on the plenary session schedule next week, the opposition plans to go as far as filing an impeachment motion. The day before, floor leader Park said, "I spoke of three stages: voluntary responsibility, meaning self-dismissal or removal; if not, semi-coercive responsibility through dismissal; and if not, coercive responsibility through impeachment," adding, "Ultimately, in the three stages, no matter how the veto is exercised, if the Speaker does not cooperate on the agenda schedule, it will finally proceed to the third stage."