Ruling and Opposition Lawmakers Resign En Masse and Dissolve the National Assembly? Overseas Cases [News SeolCham]

Can the National Assembly in Korea Be Dissolved Like in France or Germany?
The 1987 Constitutional Amendment Removed the Right to Dissolve Parliament
Japan Faces Criticism for the Abuse of the Power to Dissolve Parliament

Editor's Note'Seolcham' is a newly coined term meaning to refer to detailed explanations. In [News Seolcham], we aim to pinpoint and explain in more detail the parts of the news that require fact-checking or further explanation.

There are calls in the political sphere to have all members of the National Assembly resign and hold a re-election. The intention is to demonstrate sincerity toward social reform and to have the National Assembly revalidated. While the dissolution of parliament is not an unfamiliar scene in advanced democratic countries such as France, it requires careful judgment due to potential side effects.

Parliament dissolution refers to the removal of members' qualifications before their term expires and the reconstitution of the parliament through re-election. Although the power structures of countries with the right to dissolve parliament vary?such as the cabinet-responsible systems in the UK and Japan, and the semi-presidential systems in France and Germany?their use is similar. It serves as a mechanism for the president or prime minister to check the parliament, mainly used to resolve severe political deadlocks or to seek the public's reassessment of policies. Conversely, the parliament is also granted checks on the executive branch, such as the no-confidence vote against the cabinet.

On the 20th, the National Assembly plenary session. Photo by Yonhap News

Looking at overseas cases, the parliament dissolution card played as a gamble was not a panacea for political turmoil. In June last year, President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the parliament to prevent the far-right National Rally (RN) from taking control, leading to an early general election in July of the same year. However, Macron's pro-government coalition secured only 168 out of 577 seats, resulting in a minority government. When Prime Minister Michel Barnier, whom Macron had appointed, was dismissed through a no-confidence vote, the entire cabinet was dissolved. Subsequently, the newly appointed Prime Minister Fran?ois Bayrou survived no-confidence votes in parliament in January and February.

Twenty-seven years ago, former French President Jacques Chirac's choice to dissolve parliament also failed to achieve the desired outcome. In 1997, citing the possibility of economic deterioration, Chirac dissolved parliament and held early elections, but contrary to expectations, the left-wing coalition won the majority in the lower house. He had to appoint his political rival, Socialist Party leader Lionel Jospin, as prime minister.

Considering side effects, Germany restricts parliament dissolution to specific conditions. The president can exercise the right to dissolve parliament if the Bundestag fails to elect a chancellor with a majority (Basic Law Article 63) or if the chancellor loses a vote of confidence (Basic Law Article 68). Accordingly, when Chancellor Olaf Scholz's confidence vote was rejected in November last year, the parliament was dissolved, and an early election was held in February.

In Japan, the abuse of the prime minister's right to dissolve parliament has been problematic. The prime minister frequently dissolved parliament and held new elections to reorganize the system for political purposes. Under the current constitution enacted in May 1947, there have been 27 dissolutions of parliament. The most famous case is Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in 2012. At that time, Noda implemented policies such as raising the consumption tax to address Japan's national debt but faced strong opposition. Ultimately, in November of the same year, he dissolved parliament and decided to hold an early election, stating he would "ask the people for their trust," but his Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat with only 57 seats. The Liberal Democratic Party, which had only 118 seats, won a landslide victory with 294 seats, leading to Shinzo Abe's return as prime minister.

Currently, in South Korea, lawmakers such as Lee Eon-ju of the Democratic Party and Yoon Sang-hyun and Kim Min-jeon of the People Power Party have mentioned the total resignation of National Assembly members. However, the South Korean constitution does not include provisions for parliament dissolution. While past constitutions granted the president the right to dissolve parliament, this clause was removed during the 9th constitutional amendment in 1987. There is an argument that according to Article 41, Paragraph 2 of the constitution, which states "The number of members of the National Assembly shall be not less than 200," if more than 100 of the 300 members resign, the National Assembly would be dissolved. However, this is seen by some as merely a provision about the number of members and unrelated to the right to dissolve parliament.