Park Chan-dae Rejects Chu Kyung-ho's Proposal for One-Year Rotation in Legislation and Judiciary Committee and Steering Committee: "Lacks Sincerity"

Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, rejected the People Power Party's proposal to alternate the chairmanships of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Steering Committee between the ruling and opposition parties every year.

On the afternoon of the 19th, Park held a press briefing at the National Assembly regarding the formation of committees and said, "The People Power Party claimed that the committee formation was illegal the day before and filed a constitutional complaint, and then the next day they suggest splitting the chairmanships to one year each. How does that make any sense? There is absolutely no sincerity to be found."

Earlier, on the same day, Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, proposed regarding the formation of committees at the National Assembly, "If the Democratic Party finds it impossible to accept due to reasons such as saving leader Lee Jae-myung, then let the Democratic Party take the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Steering Committee for one year, and return them to the People Power Party after one year."

Park responded, "This is a demand to reset all discussions and progress made so far to square one," and criticized, "The People Power Party still cannot accept the results of the general election and is going against public sentiment." He then questioned, "Is the People Power Party dragging out time passively to protect President Yoon’s mood, or actively trying to block the National Assembly from functioning normally to shield Yoon Seok-yeol and Kim Keon-hee?"

Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is entering the meeting room on the 19th at the National Assembly for a press briefing related to the organization of the 22nd National Assembly. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Conversely, Park stated that if President Yoon does not exercise his veto power over the next year, he could consider Choo’s proposal. He said, "If the People Power Party makes a proposal and we are to consider it, there must be at least a minimum level of trust," and presented three conditions.

He said, "First, President Yoon must not exercise veto power on bills passed according to the National Assembly Act procedures over the next year and must promulgate them immediately." He added, "The People Power Party must actively cooperate in the operation of a working National Assembly, and issues on which opinions are not unified should be handled based on democratic principles," and said, "From the perspective of maintaining checks and balances between the legislative and executive branches, the People Power Party should also actively protest and oppose any undue legislative interference by the executive branch, including President Yoon’s exercise of veto power."

Park added, "Trust is built not by words but by actions and practice," and said, "If President Yoon and the People Power Party show signs of change and demonstrate trustworthiness through actions over the next year, we can positively consider Choo’s proposal."