National Assembly Sounds Alarm Over Trump's Tariff Blitz... Emergency Meetings and Party-Government Consultations Continue

Party and Government Hold Emergency Meetings
National Assembly Speaker and Floor Leaders of Both Parties to Meet at 4 p.m.

The Democratic Party of Korea moved swiftly on January 27 after President Donald Trump raised issues with delays in follow-up legislation on tariff negotiations and began taking steps such as increasing tariffs. Although the party minimized its official activities due to the funeral schedule of former Prime Minister Lee Haechan and did not hold public floor countermeasure meetings, it urgently entered into consultations with the government and others as the emergency situation unfolded.

The Democratic Party's floor leadership held an unscheduled closed-door floor countermeasure meeting that day. The meeting was attended by Floor Leader Han Byungdo, Policy Committee Chair Han Jeongae, Senior Deputy Floor Leader for Policy Kim Hankyu, and other key members of the floor leadership.

Regarding the issue of passing the "Special Act for Strategic U.S.-Korea Investment Management," the relevant standing committee, the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee, and the government planned to hold a party-government consultative meeting at 11 a.m. The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and others were scheduled to brief the National Assembly on pending issues.

At 4 p.m., the floor leadership of both the ruling and opposition parties also planned to enter negotiations. A meeting was scheduled with National Assembly Speaker Woo Wonshik, Floor Leader Han, and People Power Party Floor Leader Song Eonseok, where this issue was also expected to be discussed. A National Assembly official stated, "The issue of passing the special act is also likely to be discussed at this meeting."

At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yooncheol planned to meet with Im Ija, Chair of the Planning and Finance Committee, as well as the committee's ruling and opposition secretaries, Jeong Taeho of the Democratic Party and Park Sooyoung of the People Power Party, to discuss the passage of the special act.

The Democratic Party maintains that there is no legislative delay. Assemblyman Jeong explained, "The bill is following the normal process in the Planning and Finance Committee," adding, "In December, there was a tax review, and in January, confirmation hearings left no room to review the bill."

In contrast, Assemblyman Park Sooyoung criticized the government's and ruling party's response via social media, stating, "There was no active effort to address the issue from the government and ruling party," and added, "By waiting leisurely and attempting to address it in February, the government and ruling party have brought a tariff bomb upon themselves."