Ruling and opposition parties in a showdown over parliamentary committee assignments... Democratic Party moves toward unilateral passage

[Financial News] The ruling and opposition parties have failed to narrow their differences in negotiations over the 22nd National Assembly's second-half committee assignments, raising the likelihood that the Democratic Party of Korea will push the matter through on its own. The Democratic Party has warned that it could take all 18 standing committee chairmanships, while the People Power Party says it cannot accept any deal unless the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee is handed to the opposition. The talks remain deadlocked. Both parties plan to hold separate caucus meetings on the 29th to discuss the committee assignment negotiations internally.
According to political sources on the 28th, the ruling and opposition parties will each hold caucus meetings on the 29th to discuss the second-half committee assignment negotiations for the 22nd National Assembly. Speaker Jung Sung-sik, who is from the ruling party, unilaterally assigned committee seats to People Power Party lawmakers after the party refused to submit its list of committee members. Han Byung-do also warned that the Democratic Party could convene a plenary session of the National Assembly on the 29th and pass the committee allocations on its own. In response, Jeong Jeom-sik said, "We will fight to the end."
Negotiations between the ruling and opposition floor leaderships over the committee lineup have been stalled for about three weeks. The main sticking point has been the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The People Power Party argues that the second-largest party in the Assembly traditionally takes the post, but the Democratic Party says it will never give it up. The party says the committee handles every bill, so it should be controlled by the majority party to speed up legislation. The Democratic Party has also said it could take all 18 standing committee chairmanships, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Unless the ruling and opposition floor leaders reach a dramatic breakthrough, the Democratic Party is likely to move ahead with unilateral passage. The party is also pushing to finalize the committee structure more quickly, as follow-up legislation on prosecution reform is urgent. With the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency set to launch in October, the party needs to pass amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act of the Republic of Korea, including provisions to abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights.
The People Power Party, however, is expected to strongly oppose any unilateral move on committee assignments. A similar pattern emerged during the first half of the 2024 National Assembly session. At the time, the Democratic Party, then in the opposition, took 11 of the 18 standing committee chairmanships, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee of the National Assembly of South Korea. The People Power Party responded by boycotting committee schedules and launching its own People's Livelihood Special Committee. As the ruling party at the time, it brought government officials before the special committee and effectively ran its own committee system. It also adopted a party line resolution calling for the resignation of Woo Won-shik, then submitted it to the National Assembly.
As a minority opposition party, the People Power Party has limited options for resistance. On the 29th, it plans to discuss its strategy for confronting the government at a caucus meeting, but it has few tools to block the ruling party's committee allocations. A boycott of committees or absence from plenary sessions would amount to little more than a public relations battle, and the party failed to gain any practical advantage in 2024 as well. This time too, the scale of its response is likely to depend on how much the Democratic Party worries about a backlash over taking all 18 standing committees or pushing through the allocations unilaterally.
haeram@fnnews.com Lee Hae-ram Reporter