Ruling and Opposition Parties Clash Over "Out with Minhee Choi's Dictatorship" Placards
Session Adjourned Before Opening... Lawmakers Left in Confusion
The National Assembly's confirmation hearing for Baek Gun, nominee for Minister of Science and ICT, collapsed on July 14 amid intense confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties, failing to even begin.
On the 14th, at the confirmation hearing of Baek Gun, nominee for Minister of Science and ICT, held during the full meeting of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Communication Committee, Chairperson Minhee Choi declared the adjournment. Photo by Yonhap News
From the outset of the hearing, which began at 10:00 a.m., ruling and opposition lawmakers on the Science, Technology, Information and Communication Committee engaged in heated arguments.
This was because the Democratic Party strongly protested when People Power Party lawmakers entered holding placards that read, "Out with Minhee Choi's dictatorship! Lee Jaemyung, practice cooperation!"
Kim Hyun, Democratic Party lawmaker and ruling party secretary of the committee, said, "This is really too much from the very start," while Chairperson Minhee Choi demanded that People Power Party lawmakers remove the placards they had placed in front of their seats.
However, when People Power Party lawmakers did not remove the placards, Chairperson Choi read aloud Article 45 of the National Assembly Act, which states, "If a lawmaker disrupts order in the plenary or committee meeting room by violating this law or National Assembly rules, the Speaker or Chairperson may issue a warning or restrain them."
Chairperson Choi then stated, "If the Speaker or Chairperson deems it difficult to maintain order due to disturbance in the meeting room, the meeting may be suspended or adjourned," and struck the gavel, declaring the meeting adjourned.
As a result, the confirmation hearing for Baek Gun was adjourned just six minutes after its scheduled start, at around 10:06 a.m. The sudden adjournment left both ruling and opposition lawmakers visibly bewildered.
An official from the committee explained, "Today's confirmation hearing for the Minister of Science and ICT nominee has not yet opened due to disorder in the meeting room," and added, "The Chairperson will convene the meeting once order is restored."
According to Article 74 of the National Assembly Act, a meeting cannot be reconvened on the same day once adjournment has been declared. However, since Chairperson Choi declared adjournment before the meeting had officially opened, the declaration was rendered invalid.
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