Jeong Cheong-rae and Song Seok-jun's Speaking Rights Suspended... National Assembly Judiciary Committee Faces Another 'Catastrophe'

Verbal Clash Between Jeong Cheong-rae and People Power Party at Ministry of Justice Audit
Another 'Majority Vote Dispute'... "According to Law" VS "Need for Deliberation"
Jeong Cheong-rae: "Blame Yourselves for Becoming a Minority Party"

A heated exchange took place between Jeong Cheong-rae, chairman of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, and members of the People Power Party. The confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties began when a Democratic Party lawmaker criticized the attitude of the Minister of Justice in his responses, during which Chairman Jeong suspended the speaking rights of People Power Party lawmaker Song Seok-jun. Chairman Jeong emphasized that the proceedings were being conducted according to the law to maintain order.

On the 8th, the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a national audit targeting the Ministry of Justice and others at the National Assembly. Minister Park Seong-jae and Vice Minister Kim Seok-woo responded to questions from committee members. During the afternoon session, when Lawmaker Song questioned Minister Park with the implication that "excessive impeachment of prosecutors is inappropriate," Minister Park responded affirmatively. In response, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min stated through a procedural remark, "As the minister who supervises and directs prosecutors, I do not think it is appropriate to agree with the People Power Party's opinion," adding that it was "an attitude violating political neutrality."

On the 8th, at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Ministry of Justice and others, Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae (left) is receiving the oath statement from Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Lawmaker Song retorted to Kim's remark, saying, "What kind of procedural remark is this?" Chairman Jeong said, "Despite my repeated warnings, you interrupted again, so your speaking rights are suspended for today." Earlier, Lawmaker Song told Chairman Jeong, who criticized the vice minister's attitude in his responses, "Don't pressure him too much."

Chairman Jeong said, "The National Assembly is one of the three pillars of the separation of powers," adding, "How can we undo what has already been processed according to the National Assembly Act (regarding the prosecutor impeachment hearing)?" He continued, "The Constitution stipulates that decisions in the National Assembly are made by majority vote," and said, "If the People Power Party is so dissatisfied, work hard to gain the majority seats next time and then handle it by majority vote." He further added, "You failed to secure seats and became a minority party; who do you blame? Blame yourselves."

On August 19th, Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party (second from the left), and Yoo Sang-beom, the ruling party's secretary (center), attended the on-site inspection of the Seoul Detention Center conducted by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do, and are protesting to Jeong Cheong-rae, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee (left). Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Yoo Sang-beom, the ruling party's secretary of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said in a procedural remark, "It is true that efforts are made to become the majority party," but added, "One of the significant efforts made by many predecessors was to reduce the number of bills unilaterally handled by the majority party as much as possible." He also mentioned, "The recent permanent special prosecutor law rules were proposed by Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Seong-ho in 2014 and accepted by the then-majority Saenuri Party."

Furthermore, he pointed out, "The spirit of the National Assembly is to proceed by majority vote but with deliberation as the most fundamental principle," and criticized, "What does Song's one or two interjections have to do with maintaining order to justify suspending his speaking rights? This kind of authoritarianism is unprecedented."