Ruling and Opposition Parties to Hold Plenary Session on 27th to Elect Deputy Speaker and Standing Committee Chairs

Election of Chairpersons for Remaining 7 Standing Committees
People Power Party Holds Primary Before Plenary Session
Choo Kyung-ho Expected to Be Reconfirmed at Party Meeting

On the 27th, the ruling and opposition parties held a plenary session to elect the remaining ruling party's Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and the chairpersons of seven standing committees. Although negotiations between the parties had been ongoing since May, it took more than a month to finalize the organization of the Assembly. This was the result of the Democratic Party of Korea securing 11 key standing committees, including the Steering Committee and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, leading the People Power Party to boycott the standing committees.

Bae Jun-young, the senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, and Park Sung-joon, the senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, agreed on the legislative schedule at the National Assembly on the 26th. The parties plan to hold government questioning sessions from the 2nd to the 4th of next month, followed by the Democratic Party's floor speech on the 8th and the People Power Party's floor speech on the 9th.

Woo Won-sik, Speaker of the National Assembly (third from the left), is meeting with Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, and Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 17th at the National Assembly regarding the organization of the committees. From the left: Bae Jun-young, senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party; Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader; Woo Won-sik, Speaker; Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea; and Park Sung-jun, senior deputy floor leader. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Before the plenary session, the People Power Party will hold a party meeting to conduct a primary election to select the final candidates for the Deputy Speaker and standing committee chairpersons. For the Deputy Speaker position, six-term lawmaker Joo Ho-young, the most senior in the party, and four-term lawmaker Park Deok-heum have declared their candidacies. The standing committee chairpersons have been virtually confirmed as single candidates: Yoon Han-hong for the Political Affairs Committee, Song Eon-seok for the Strategy and Finance Committee, Sung Il-jong for the Defense Committee, Lee Cheol-gyu for the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Business Committee, Shin Seong-beom for the Intelligence Committee, and Lee In-seon for the Women and Family Committee. The Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee chairperson position will be contested between lawmakers Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Seok-ki.

Meanwhile, Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, expressed his intention to resign, taking responsibility for the outcome of the Assembly organization negotiations. He is currently known to be staying with Secretary General Jung Hee-yong and on Baengnyeongdo Island. Although Choo's intention to resign is firm, it is highly likely that he will be reaffirmed at the party meeting on the 27th.