Ruling and Opposition Parties Fail Again to Agree on '21st National Assembly's Final Plenary Session'

Kukim Yoon Jae-ok "Consultations Underway Between Floor Leaders of Both Parties"
Minju Hong Ik-pyo "The Speaker Must Make a Decision"

The ruling and opposition parties held last-minute negotiations on the 30th over whether to convene the final extraordinary session of the 21st National Assembly, but it ended in failure again.

Democratic Party Floor Leader Hong Ik-pyo (from the right), National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, and People Power Party Floor Leader Yoon Jae-ok are entering the meeting of floor leaders from ruling and opposition parties held at the Speaker's Office of the National Assembly on the 30th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The major opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, repeatedly pressured to hold a plenary session on the 2nd of next month to pass key bills, but the minority ruling party, the People Power Party, insisted that discussions on these bills should be deferred to the 22nd National Assembly, failing to find common ground.

On the afternoon of the same day, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, and Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, met under the chairmanship of National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo to discuss the schedule for convening the May extraordinary plenary session and the agenda items, but no conclusion was reached. After the meeting, Floor Leader Yoon told reporters, "We held a meeting between the floor leaders of both parties chaired by the Speaker regarding the convening of the plenary session. Although no conclusion has been reached yet, it was decided that the chief negotiators of both parties will continue consultations." Floor Leader Hong emphasized to reporters, "(Holding the plenary session on May 2) is still under discussion, but at some point, the Speaker must make a decision."

The Democratic Party insists that the plenary session should be held on the 2nd of next month, one day before the election of the floor leader, to vote on the Special Prosecutor Act for Cha Sang-byeong and the Special Act on Jeonse Fraud, and to re-vote on the Itaewon Disaster Special Act, which President Yoon Seok-yeol vetoed and returned to the National Assembly. The People Power Party maintains its opposition to handling these politically contentious bills and states that it will only agree to convene the session if there is a prior agreement to process only livelihood-related bills.