Emphasizing the Need for March Special Session in the Opposition
Lee Jae-myung Urges Passage of Labor Union Law Amendment Bill
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, emphasized the necessity of convening the March extraordinary session of the National Assembly, stating, "Even as the Democratic Party, we will do our utmost to handle livelihood-related bills in the remaining extraordinary session."
On the 20th, at the Supreme Council meeting of the National Assembly, Floor Leader Park said, "In accordance with the Working National Assembly Act, we will hold the March extraordinary session and properly handle the numerous livelihood and economic legislations currently stalled due to the ruling party's negligence and obstruction."
Since the introduction of the Working National Assembly Act in 2020, the current National Assembly Act stipulates that extraordinary sessions are to be held in February, March, April, May, June, and August, and a regular session of 100 days is to be held from September. However, the two major parties have shown disagreements regarding the convening of the March extraordinary session.
Floor Leader Park cited the ruling party's mistakes as the basis. He pointed out, "The government, which officially acknowledged the economic slowdown, is doing nothing to boost prices," and criticized, "The economic ministries are only demanding tax cuts for semiconductor companies and have not presented effective measures."
He also addressed the ruling party, saying, "It is outrageous that they are dragging the March extraordinary session, stipulated by the National Assembly Act, into political strife by using Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung as an excuse," and added, "In this economic crisis, the ruling party is only thinking about closing the National Assembly doors; how can any citizen have hope?"
Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 17th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
Furthermore, he criticized, "Our people are well aware of the shallow intentions and political calculations to completely overshadow the results of the 'Sadanghoe Conference' under President Yoon Seok-yeol's command and to derail the special investigations into the Daejang-dong 5 billion Club and First Lady Kim Geon-hee's stock manipulation."
On the same day, Leader Lee also emphasized the livelihood crisis, stating, "The livelihood economy is on the brink of an immediate crisis," and added, "The trade deficit, which has already approached 20 billion dollars, shows no signs of rebound, and consumption and domestic demand are also unlikely to recover."
Leader Lee urged the prompt passage of the amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act, placing emphasis on livelihood legislation. He said, "The law guaranteeing legal strikes protects labor rights as defined by the Constitution and is the minimum counterbalance to correct the tilted playing field between labor and management," and added, "The Democratic Party will do its best to ensure the swift passage of the amendments."
On the other hand, the day before, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, urged the opposition not to convene the March extraordinary session regarding the arrest motion for Leader Lee. He emphasized, "If Democratic Party lawmakers misjudge and the arrest motion does not pass, since the extraordinary session ends on the 28th and there will be no session from March 1, the Democratic Party should not hold a shielded National Assembly session."
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