Kim Jin-pyo "50 Days After General Election, Much Can Be Done... Need to Improve Legislation Committee and Budget Review"

Speaker of the National Assembly Opens February Extraordinary Session
"Politics Must Follow the Right Path Over Advantage... Must Show Confident Politics"

Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo proposed on the 19th that the government and the National Assembly discuss the budget bill together from the budget formulation stage, and suggested separating the Legislative Committee from the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. He urged both ruling and opposition parties to engage in legislative activities for public welfare and parliamentary reform during the remaining term after the general election.

In his opening address at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the same day, Kim said, "After the people's judgment through the general election on April 10, there will be about 50 days during which both ruling and opposition parties must be humble before the people." He added, "It is a period in which much can be accomplished. I will not waste a single day and will work diligently until the last day of the 21st National Assembly." He also noted, "The 18th National Assembly handled 66 agenda items including the Act on the Improvement of the National Assembly, the 19th National Assembly approved 135 items, and the 20th National Assembly passed 208 items," emphasizing, "A lot can be done during this period."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, Kim stated, "The National Assembly has an obligation to continuously study the budget review and legislative procedures, which are its fundamental duties, to establish more efficient and sophisticated procedures." He explained, "From March, starting with the Ministerial Meeting on Resource Allocation, at every stage of budget formulation, the government should refer to and supplement the opinions of the people collected through the National Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Committee and standing committees, so that these can be reflected in the budget bill." He added, "Revising a once-formulated budget requires a tedious process due to the structural characteristics of the budget bill and involves many difficulties during the review process." He introduced, "Most advanced countries do not separate formulation and review like we do; in practice, the government and the legislature formulate the budget bill together." Kim emphasized, "To properly practice fiscal democracy, we must reflect the opinions of the people through their representatives in the National Assembly during the formulation process to prepare a proper budget bill," urging the promotion of institutional improvements related to budget review.

Regarding the review of bills, he said, "There is a need to improve the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for more productive bill processing," and proposed, "Let us separate it into a Judiciary Committee that discusses judicial matters and a Legislative Committee that reviews bills passed by each standing committee." Concerning the composition of the Legislative Committee, he suggested, "If key party officials such as the floor leaders and policy committee chairs of negotiation groups participate ex officio, bill discussions can be conducted more substantively and swiftly." He also requested, "Please discuss measures to improve the practice of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee holding bills indefinitely under the pretext of systematic and detailed review by setting the bill review period to one month, and up to three months with bipartisan agreement."

Meanwhile, Kim said, "Through 20 years of political life, I have concluded that politics is about right and wrong, not about advantages and disadvantages," and urged, "I ask each member of the National Assembly to show the people dignified politics by walking the right path, even if it is a thorny road unfavorable to themselves."

Kim reiterated, "Regarding the population decline issue, let us enshrine low birthrate policies that can continue regardless of regime changes in the Constitution." He also proposed the establishment of a constitutional amendment procedure law and a permanent special committee related to the Constitution.