Jeong Cheong-rae spoke for 5 hours out of 17 in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee... Choi Min-hee interrupted 34 times [One Month Since the 22nd National Assembly Opening]④

Jeong Cheong-rae spoke for over 3 hours at the Judiciary Committee on the 21st of last month
Democratic Party lawmaker Park Gyun-taek spoke for about 28 minutes
Choi Min-hee interrupted 26 times to speak on the 25th of last month

Standing committee chairpersons in the National Assembly, backed by strong supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea, have effectively taken center stage in their respective committees, occupying a significant portion of the speaking time. They not only took speaking time away from fellow party members but also interrupted others to make their own statements.

Jeong Cheong-rae, Chairman of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, is striking the gavel at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on the 14th. At the meeting, the formation of a subcommittee to review the "Special Prosecutor Appointment Act for the Investigation of Obstruction and Cover-up of the Truth Regarding the Death of a Marine in the Line of Duty (Special Prosecutor Act proposed by Chae Sang-byeong)" and the adoption of 12 witnesses were approved. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the occasion of the first month since the opening of the 22nd National Assembly, Asia Economy reviewed the National Assembly's live broadcast system on the 3rd and found that Jeong Cheong-rae, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, spoke for a total of 5 hours, 31 minutes, and 51 seconds during four full committee meetings held last month. This accounted for about 32% of the total speaking and questioning time of 17 hours, 28 minutes, and 8 seconds by all members. Choi Min-hee, chairwoman of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, spoke for 2 hours, 50 minutes, and 40 seconds during five full committee meetings, using about 22% of the total speaking and questioning time of 13 hours, 3 minutes, and 32 seconds by all members.

Chairman Jeong spoke for a total of 3 hours, 16 minutes, and 17 seconds during the third full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 21st of last month alone. This accounted for about 36% of the total speaking and questioning time of 8 hours, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds by all members. He also made 64 speaking and questioning instances, nearly half of the total 138. On the same day, from 9:28 PM to 9:54 PM, he had three speaking opportunities over 26 minutes. During this time, Chairman Jeong directly pressured a witness, former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop, by saying, "Is the family motto of former Minister Lee Jong-seop 'Let's not be honest'? That can't be right." A total of 11 members, including Chairman Jeong, attended the Legislation and Judiciary Committee that day, which would suggest about 49 minutes of speaking time per person, but no other member besides Chairman Jeong spoke for more than 49 minutes. Democratic Party member Park Gyun-taek spoke the least, with only 27 minutes and 55 seconds of speaking and questioning.

Chairwoman Choi spoke less than Chairman Jeong but interrupted other members' speeches more frequently. She intervened 34 times during five full meetings of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, while Chairman Jeong intervened 28 times during four full meetings of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The time spent interrupting and speaking during others' turns is not included in the total speaking and questioning time, so the actual time they spoke is analyzed to be longer. On the 25th of last month, during the fifth full meeting of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, Chairwoman Choi interrupted other members 26 times. After Democratic Party member Jo In-cheol finished questioning Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho, it was Democratic Party member Han Min-su's turn to question, but Chairwoman Choi interjected, saying, "Did you come here to defend the president?" and added, "I'm really frustrated listening to this, so imagine how frustrated the public must be," interrupting mid-speech.

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee quickly processed the special investigation law on allegations of external pressure in the investigation of Corporal Chae's death (Chae Corporal Special Investigation Law), and the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee swiftly handled the three broadcasting laws (amendments to the Broadcasting Act, the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act, and the Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act), which were adopted as party policies by the Democratic Party. The Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee held the first full committee meeting among all committees on the 11th of last month, followed by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee the next day.

Other committees held relatively fewer full meetings. Among the committees controlled by the Democratic Party, the Health and Welfare Committee and the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee held three meetings each in June, the Education Committee, the Public Administration and Security Committee, and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee held two meetings each, the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee held one meeting, and the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts did not meet. The Environment and Labor Committee, which handled the Yellow Envelope Act (amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act), held five meetings like the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, but Chairperson Ahn Ho-young spoke for a total of 1 hour, 31 minutes, and 36 seconds. This accounted for about 15% of the total speaking and questioning time of 10 hours, 4 minutes, and 51 seconds by all members of the Environment and Labor Committee, roughly half the time of Chairman Jeong.

Strong supporters of the Democratic Party actively support Chairman Jeong and Chairwoman Choi. On the fan cafe "Jaemyeong's Village" for former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, posts with titles such as "Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae's masterful preemptive strike" and "Let's remember the hearing hero Chairwoman Choi Min-hee" were posted. Strong supporters of the Democratic Party responded with comments like "They say heroes arise in troubled times, and this fits perfectly" and "Please keep doing as you are, Representative Jeong Cheong-rae. We dislike the scholarly type of Democratic Party."

There are concerns that if the committee chairpersons monopolize speaking time, the diverse claims and opinions of other members may disappear. Professor Shin Yul of Myongji University's Department of Political Science and Diplomacy said, "If the committee chairperson focuses on asserting their presence, it suppresses the thoughts of members who want to play a role in the committee," adding, "This can lead to a bad outcome where not only all praise but also criticism is concentrated on the committee chairperson."