'Resolution Condemning North Korea's Russian Troop Deployment' Fails to Gain Bipartisan Agreement

Discussion at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee Bill Subcommittee

The National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee held a bill review subcommittee on the 8th to discuss a bipartisan joint resolution condemning North Korea's troop dispatch to Russia, but the adoption of the resolution failed after disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties.

In the People Power Party, lawmakers Na Kyung-won and Kim Geon, and in the Democratic Party of Korea, lawmaker Kim Young-bae each proposed separate resolutions condemning North Korea. At the subcommittee meeting, there was an attempt to merge these three resolutions into one, but it was reported that the ruling and opposition parties could not narrow their differences.

All the bills proposed by the three lawmakers defined North Korea's troop dispatch to Russia as a violation of international law and commonly called for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean dispatched troops and the cancellation of additional transfer plans.

However, while the ruling party lawmakers' resolution included support for the Multinational Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) for sanctions against North Korea, the resolution led by Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-bae included concerns about the South Korean government's regulation of leaflet distribution to North Korea and the provision of lethal weapons and troop dispatch to Ukraine.

The ruling and opposition parties ultimately failed to reconcile their differences on these issues and agreed to discuss them again after further consultations between the committee secretaries.