Kim Min-seok Says Negotiating-Group Threshold Should Be Lowered to 15 Seats; RKP Calls for 10

[Financial News] After Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 16th that the threshold for forming a negotiating group should be lowered to 15 seats, the Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP) argued that it should be reduced to 10 seats. RKP currently holds 12 seats in the National Assembly.
Appearing on the Democratic Party’s official YouTube channel, Minjoo TV, that day, Kim said, "Looking at the issue involving Yong Hye-in, the nominee for minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, we faced criticism, but at the same time, I saw the reality of the vulnerable progressive forces." He added, "I think people are asking themselves whether setting the threshold at around 15 seats initially would be realistic and acceptable."
RKP immediately pushed back after Kim’s position on lowering the threshold for negotiating groups became public. Its argument was that if the threshold is to be lowered, it should be reduced to 10 seats—as it was before the Yushin regime—rather than to 15 seats as Kim proposed.
Jeong Chun-saeng, RKP’s secretary-general, wrote on social media that day, "What is the basis for Kim’s proposal to lower the threshold for a negotiating group to 15 seats?" Jeong continued, "The current threshold was established after former President Park Chung-hee used the Yushin Constitution to raise the previous threshold from 10 to 20 seats in order to extend his dictatorship, and it has remained in place ever since. If it is to be lowered, reducing it to 10 seats, as it was before the Yushin regime, would be consistent with the purpose of the reform."
Jeong also criticized the system, saying, "All of South Korea’s politics and electoral institutions are designed to benefit only the two major parties." He asked, "If all the support systems created to develop party politics are allocated to the two major parties, how can minor parties build a base and expand their influence?"
He further lamented, "Only negotiating groups determine the agenda and introduce bills at plenary sessions, as well as set the schedules and introduce bills in standing committees." He added, "The structure makes it difficult for parties that are not negotiating groups to advance the bills and motions they want to pursue."
RKP’s communications bureau also criticized Kim’s proposal to lower the threshold for a negotiating group to 15 seats. Like Jeong, it argued that 10 seats would better reflect the original purpose of the system.
The communications bureau stated, "RKP has had no official or unofficial contact with the Democratic Party leadership regarding political reform, an alliance, or integration." It added, "The Democratic Party has not made such a proposal either."
It emphasized, "RKP’s official party position is that the threshold for a negotiating group should be normalized at 10 seats." It added, "Returning to the 10-seat threshold that existed before the Yushin regime is both common sense and the natural course of action."
The communications bureau urged the Democratic Party to act, saying, "Action, not words, is needed. Alliances must be institutionalized, and promises must be kept." It continued, "The Democratic Party must present and implement a concrete roadmap, including carrying out the declaration adopted at the roundtable meeting, forming a political reform consultative body, and holding the third roundtable meeting."
[email protected] Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter