與 "Electoral System, Now It's Time for the Political Reform Special Committee"... Opposition "Full Committee Review Comes First"

Jeon Jae-su "The Purpose of the Full Committee with 100 Speakers Must Be Upheld"
Kim Sang-hoon "No Agreement Between Parties on the Composition of the Full Committee Subcommittee"

After the full committee meeting of the National Assembly for the electoral system, differences of opinion between the ruling and opposition parties emerged over the issue of forming a subcommittee. Opposition members of the Special Committee on Political Reform insisted that a subcommittee should be formed to carry out at least minimal organizational work following the full committee meeting where 100 members spoke, while the ruling party argued that future discussions on the electoral district system should continue within the Special Committee on Political Reform rather than the full committee.

On the 9th, Kim Sang-hoon, the secretary of the ruling People Power Party's Special Committee on Political Reform, raised an issue at the full meeting of the Special Committee, stating, "Among the materials in the minutes, there is mention of forming a subcommittee of the full committee, but the formation of such a subcommittee has not been agreed upon between the ruling and opposition parties," and added, "It is wrong to prepare and report materials as if the next procedures will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the full committee." Kim emphasized, "Now is the time for the Special Committee on Political Reform," and said that although he received a proposal from the Speaker of the National Assembly regarding the full committee subcommittee, "a single plan should be negotiated and derived according to the agreement between the floor leaders of both parties, and then go through the official process involving the Special Committee on Political Reform, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and the plenary session." He added, "Strictly speaking, the full committee does not even have the legal authority to pass laws."

While Kim seemed to point out issues with the content of the "Report on the Progress of the Full Committee and Public Opinion Survey" formally reported in all meetings, he expressed opposition to the very discussion of forming a full committee subcommittee in the future electoral system debate process. Previously, Speaker Kim Jin-pyo had requested, "Chairman Kim Young-joo of the full committee and floor leaders Jeon Jae-soo (Democratic Party) and Kim Sang-hoon (People Power Party) should gather members' opinions through methods such as forming a subcommittee and create a revised proposal." The idea was to form a full committee subcommittee to consolidate the full committee discussions. Since the full committee was convened for the first time in 19 years, a subcommittee was deemed necessary to produce tangible results rather than just a free-for-all debate. Kim believed it was time to move on to the next step of discussions between the ruling and opposition parties without further full committee deliberations.

Opposition lawmakers opposed Kim's objection and supported the formation of the full committee subcommittee. Shim Sang-jung, a Justice Party member, said, "Regarding the formation of the full committee subcommittee, it seems structurally appropriate for the conclusion to be made between the Speaker and the floor leaders (rather than the Special Committee on Political Reform)," thereby passing the responsibility for the subcommittee formation to Speaker Kim and the floor leadership of both parties.

On the 13th, the plenary committee meeting for reviewing the resolution on improving the parliamentary election system was held at the 4th session of the 405th National Assembly (extraordinary session) at the National Assembly. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Jeon Jae-soo, the secretary of the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Political Reform, said, "The full committee was convened for the first time in 19 years, providing an unprecedented opportunity for 100 members to express their convictions, but if it ends like this, the full committee might be perceived as having been just a show," and added, "It would be the full committee's completed role to organize and categorize the content that came out of the full committee, performing pruning work, and then handing it over to the Special Committee on Political Reform." Regarding the electoral system discussions, Jeon urged, "The leadership of both parties should negotiate regarding the formation of the subcommittee," and added, "Shouldn't the Special Committee on Political Reform reach a conclusion by the end of June?"

Nam In-soon, chairperson of the Special Committee on Political Reform (Democratic Party), commented on Kim's objection, saying, "When the Special Committee's professional staff reported, they did not say 'formation of a full committee subcommittee' but rather 'discussion of formation,' and since it is a fact that it is under discussion, it seems appropriate to organize the materials as 'discussion'."