Jang Je-won, Last-Ditch Effort to Resign 'Space Aviation Agency'... Prelude to General Election

Democratic Party Requests Referral to Agenda Coordination Committee
Gyeongnam Sacheon vs Daejeon Daedeok Complex
"Regional Conflict" Unlikely to Be Easily Resolved

"If the Special Act on the Space and Aviation Agency is passed within August, I will resign from the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee chairmanship that the Democratic Party wanted."

On the 23rd, Jang Je-won, chairman of the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Communication Committee and member of the People Power Party, posted a 'conditional resignation' on his Facebook, drawing intense attention to the Space and Aviation Agency. The establishment of the Space and Aviation Agency is a national agenda of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and a core project of the Ministry of Science and ICT. The government submitted a special act on the establishment and operation of the Space and Aviation Agency to the National Assembly in April.

However, the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee has repeatedly faced disruptions over the past two months. Chairman Jang discussed the agenda, including a public hearing for the establishment of the Space and Aviation Agency, with the ruling and opposition party secretaries, but no consensus was reached. The confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties continued as the Democratic Party opposed the separate collection of KBS license fees and the appointment of Lee Dong-gwan, Special Advisor for External Cooperation at the Presidential Office, as chairman of the Korea Communications Commission.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Space and Aviation Act Referred to Agenda Coordination Committee, Decision to be Made Within 90 Days

On the 27th, the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee will hold a plenary session to question the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute on current issues. The day before, Chairman Jang convened the meeting by his authority, stating that discussions on the establishment of the Space and Aviation Agency could not be postponed. However, Democratic Party committee members all boycotted the meeting and applied for referral of the special act on the Space and Aviation Agency to the Agenda Coordination Committee through a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office. The Democratic Party committee members stated, "After making a resignation show last weekend that drew public ridicule, the standing committee is repeating a farcical show as if it were its own stage," and urged, "We demand that he resign and stop causing further inconvenience."

The special act for the establishment of the Space and Aviation Agency submitted by the government, along with two Space Development Promotion Acts (proposed by Yang Jeong-suk and Jo Seung-rae), and the Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Aerospace Agency (proposed by Kim Jeong-ho), have been referred to the Agenda Coordination Committee. A total of seven bills, including the Act on the Establishment and Operation of the National Space and Aviation Agency prepared by Democratic Party member Kim Min-seok, are scheduled to be discussed by the committee.

The Agenda Coordination Committee is a body established to intensively review issues when opinions sharply conflict among members of the standing committee. It consists of six members: three from the majority Democratic Party and three from minority non-Democratic Party members. It is expected that three Democratic Party members, two People Power Party members, and one independent member appointed by the standing committee chairman will participate. Currently, in the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, Park Wan-joo from the Democratic Party and Ha Young-je from the People Power Party are independent members. It is widely expected that Ha, whose constituency is Sacheon, Gyeongnam?considered a strong candidate location for the Space and Aviation Agency?will join.

Previously, in December last year, Democratic Party committee members passed the Broadcasting Act in the Agenda Coordination Committee by a 4-2 vote, including Park Wan-joo, who left the Democratic Party, as the opposition party's member.

Will the Establishment of the Aerospace Agency Accelerate? ... Also Seen as Election-related Tensions

The People Power Party expects that the convening of the Agenda Coordination Committee will accelerate discussions on the special act for the Space and Aviation Agency. However, they are suspicious of the Democratic Party's reasons for requesting the committee. The intention is believed to be to take the initiative and pass the bill through the Agenda Coordination Committee, which is chaired by the majority party, even though the issue could be sufficiently discussed in the subcommittee and plenary sessions.

However, Jo Seung-rae, the opposition party secretary of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee from the Democratic Party, said in a phone interview, "Since only related bills are discussed in the Agenda Coordination Committee, the process will not be delayed but rather more compressed and faster." Chairman Jang pressured through Facebook the day before, saying, "At least this way, the review of the bill to establish the Space and Aviation Agency has begun," but also warned, "I hope the Democratic Party remembers that the Agenda Coordination Committee for the Broadcasting Act was finished in 2 hours and 50 minutes, 170 minutes."

The confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties over the establishment of the Space and Aviation Agency is interpreted as an election-related tension aimed at next year's National Assembly general election. Currently, Sacheon in Gyeongnam and the science city Daejeon are competing to host the agency. Sacheon is classified as a stronghold of the People Power Party, while Daejeon is the constituency of Jo, the opposition party secretary of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee (Daejeon Yuseong-gap).

An official from the office of a Democratic Party member representing Gyeongnam said, "There is a general election next year, so I don't think Daejeon will easily concede," and added, "Since this is a matter of life and death regionally, it is unlikely to be resolved simply."