Kim Yongmin Criticizes Floor Leadership for "Surprise Handling of Revised Bill Without Consulting Legislation and Judiciary Committee"
On February 26, Kim Yongmin, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the party leadership for handling a revised bill on the crime of judicial distortion "in a surprise move" without consulting the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Assemblyman Kim argued that the Democratic Party of Korea "must submit another revised bill."
Kim, who serves as the Democratic Party of Korea secretary on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, raised issues over the party submitting a new revised bill on the crime of judicial distortion, which had passed the committee and been placed on the agenda of the plenary session. In an SBS radio interview that day, he said, "Major party policies can be changed through debate at the general assembly of lawmakers, but in that process, the relevant standing committee must be respected, and there must be sufficient communication with the committee to draft the bill together, or at least to reach a level that the committee can agree to," adding, "There was no consultation with us yesterday on the crime of judicial distortion." He stressed, "The problem is not whether we agreed or disagreed; we should have had an opportunity to present our views, but that opportunity was taken away and the bill was handled in a very sudden manner."
Regarding the calls within the party for revising the crime of judicial distortion, Kim said, "I respect that," and added, "I oppose narrowing the scope of applicable cases, but there are aspects of making the provisions clearer that I can agree with." He went on, "How can this suddenly become the party line without prior discussion?" and said, "If there had been even a little consultation (with the Legislation and Judiciary Committee), a proposal we could have accepted would have been drawn up."
Kim also argued that even if the revised bill put forward by the party was the result of a party-government-Blue House consultation, there still should have been discussions with the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. When the host noted that "there is an interpretation that the Blue House also agreed to the revised bill," he responded, "I do not know whether there was a party-government-Blue House consultation, but even if there was, the relevant standing committee must be consulted," and pointed out, "It is not desirable for a party-government-Blue House consultation to nullify the legislative authority of the relevant standing committee." Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Youngjin said in an MBC radio interview, in relation to the revised bill, that "the chair of the Policy Committee revised the problematic points again through a party-government-Blue House meeting."
In this regard, Kim also argued that "the revised bill must be (re)submitted before the filibuster ends." He was effectively saying that, even though the revised bill was introduced as the party line, another revised bill must be submitted.
The Democratic Party of Korea floor leadership, however, made it clear that this was not possible. Kim Hyunjung, the party's floor spokesperson, said, "The revised bill was adopted as the party line through the general assembly of lawmakers," and added, "It has been reported to the plenary session, and since we are in a situation of unlimited debate (filibuster), it is not possible."
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