Regular National Assembly Session Opens, Kim Jin-pyo Urges "Let's End the Vicious Cycle of Unilateral Processing and Vetoes"

The 21st and Final Regular National Assembly
Speaker Kim Jin-pyo Emphasizes Livelihood Budget, Election Law Revision, and Busan Expo Bid
Concerns Over Ruling and Opposition Confrontation Ahead of General Election... Calls for 'Dialogue and Compromise'

On the 1st, when the 21st and final regular session of the National Assembly was held, Speaker Kim Jin-pyo urged both ruling and opposition parties to engage in 'dialogue and compromise.' This was due to concerns that confrontations and conflicts between the parties would intensify during this regular session, held seven months before next year's general election.

In his opening remarks at the regular session, Speaker Kim stated, "I will do my best to mediate and arbitrate to prevent the vicious cycle of passing bills unilaterally and exercising veto power."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He said, "Recently, the opposition party has been passing bills unilaterally, and the president has been exercising veto power, repeating a vicious cycle. There are growing concerns that this vicious cycle will reach its peak during this regular session ahead of next year's general election."

Speaker Kim pointed out, "The repeated clashes between the legislative power of the National Assembly and the veto power of the government make both the government and the National Assembly victims," adding, "It only invites criticism of incompetent politics, incompetent administration, and an incompetent country, which benefits no one." He continued, "No matter how difficult it is, not letting go of the thread of dialogue and compromise until the end is parliamentary democracy," emphasizing, "I will fulfill my responsibility to mediate and lead negotiations until the last moment so that the ruling and opposition parties can resolve issues through dialogue and compromise."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, Speaker Kim emphasized the appropriateness and timeliness of budget review. He said, "In the process of reviewing next year's budget, we must maximize fiscal efficiency by allocating the budget to the right place at the right time and also maximize fiscal effects by timely fiscal input." He added, "Last year, our National Assembly failed to meet the legal deadline for budget approval due to being caught up in minor differences," noting, "Because the National Assembly did not meet the legal deadline, the central government and local governments delayed the full-scale execution of their budgets by nearly a month. We must not repeat such mistakes in this year's budget review."

He also proposed completing the revision of the election law by September and enacting the 'Constitutional Amendment Procedure Act,' which would allow the people to directly initiate constitutional amendments.

He said, "I heard that at today's party caucus meetings, many lawmakers agreed on introducing a 'regional balanced proportional representation system' by dividing the country into three regions: northern, central, and southern," evaluating it as "laying a stepping stone to overcome regionalism, a chronic social ill in our society." He added, "The revision of the election law must be completed by the end of this month at the latest," and urged, "Since the ruling and opposition parties have made significant progress in discussions, I ask that negotiations on the remaining details be promptly concluded."

Along with this, he reiterated the call for a bipartisan constitutional amendment. He said, "I have mentioned whenever there was an opportunity that it is time to amend the constitution," emphasizing, "If the revision of the election law is the starting point for institutionalizing decentralization and cooperation, then the conclusion must be the constitutional amendment."

Speaker Kim stated, "Let us open a new path where the people directly lead the drafting of constitutional amendments, like the Irish Citizens' Assembly, and the political circles support it," proposing, "Regardless of the term of the National Assembly members, we should operate a standing special committee on constitutional amendment and also operate a standing public deliberation forum for the people by enacting the 'Constitutional Amendment Procedure Act.'" He added, "Starting next week, the 'Advisory Committee on Constitutional Amendment and Political System Improvement' will hold 'citizens' public hearings' while touring six regions nationwide to promote constitutional amendments with public participation," and requested, "I ask for the active participation of the public in these forums to gather public opinion."

Additionally, Speaker Kim mentioned efforts to attract the Busan Expo and the operation of substantive special committees. He said, "It is also urgent to completely reorganize the armed forces into a scientific and technological military," proposing the establishment of the 'Defense Advanced Technology Military Academy' in connection with KAIST and the Korea Military Academy to nurture key talents in defense science and technology, as well as the creation of a cutting-edge research cluster called the 'Korean Silicon Valley.'