Rep. Seo Young-gyo elected chair of Legislation and Judiciary Committee

People Power Party members hold signs reading 'Democratic Party-style public intimidation'

PPP lawmakers walk out without voting

People Power Party floor leader Jung Jeom-sik and fellow lawmakers stage a protest at a plenary session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, denouncing the Democratic Party of Korea's unilateral push to elect 11 standing committee chairs and the budget committee chair for the second half of the 22nd National Assembly. [Yonhap]
People Power Party floor leader Jung Jeom-sik and fellow lawmakers stage a protest at a plenary session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, denouncing the Democratic Party of Korea's unilateral push to elect 11 standing committee chairs and the budget committee chair for the second half of the 22nd National Assembly. [Yonhap]

The Democratic Party of Korea pushed through the second-half committee leadership lineup of the 22nd National Assembly at a plenary session Tuesday over fierce objections from the People Power Party. Of the 18 standing committee chair posts, the Democratic Party unilaterally filled 11, leaving the remaining seven for the PPP.

The National Assembly convened a plenary session Tuesday afternoon and elected chairs for 11 of the 18 standing and permanent special committees under Democratic Party leadership — all positions the party had nominated itself. PPP lawmakers refused to participate in the votes, protesting what they called a unilateral seizure of the committee structure.

The two parties had failed to bridge their differences over the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The Democratic Party ultimately renominated Rep. Seo Young-gyo — who had chaired the committee during the first half of the Assembly — and forced through her election Tuesday afternoon.

Rep. Cheon Jun-ho, the Democratic Party's senior floor whip, said the party decided to give her a continued role "because we judged it would be better to maintain continuity and consistency until key reform tasks are completed." He added that the goal was "to successfully carry out major reform agendas, including reform of the prosecution."

Also elected were Rep. Yoo Dong-su as chair of the Political Affairs Committee, Rep. Jo Seung-rae as chair of the Finance and Economy Committee, Rep. Song Ki-heon as chair of the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, Rep. Jin Seong-jun as chair of the National Defense Committee, Rep. Kim Young-jin as chair of the Interior and Safety Committee, Rep. Lee Jae-jeong as chair of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, and Rep. Seo Sam-seok as chair of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee. Rep. Kim Jeong-ho was elected chair of the Climate and Labor Committee, Rep. Han Byung-do chair of the House Steering Committee, and Rep. Lee Gwang-jae chair of the Budget and Accounts Special Committee.

PPP floor leader Jung Jeom-sik condemned the Democratic Party's move as "arrogant politics that shows no respect for the minority party, and old-style backroom dealing where committee posts are carved up in closed-door caucuses." He said the PPP "strongly denounces the legislative dictatorship of the ruling party, which is consumed solely by power games." All PPP members on the 11 committees chaired by Democratic Party lawmakers also announced they would resign their seats.

PPP lawmakers gathered in front of the speaker's podium holding signs reading "runaway National Assembly committee takeover" and "Democratic Party-style public intimidation," chanting slogans such as "We denounce the Democratic Party for forcing through committees under parliamentary dictatorship," before walking out of the chamber without voting. The PPP plans to hold a party caucus on July 2 to discuss whether to boycott the National Assembly's entire legislative schedule.


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