![Han Byung-do, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on Wednesday. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/07/08/rcv.YNA.20260708.PYH2026070803980001300_P1.jpg)
The Democratic Party of Korea pressed ahead with plans to convene a National Assembly plenary session on Thursday, renewing pressure on the People Power Party. The People Power Party pushed back sharply, insisting the dispute over the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee must be resolved first.
Han Byung-do, the Democratic Party's acting leader and floor leader, said at a supreme council meeting Wednesday that "the Assembly must not grind to a halt when people's livelihoods are at stake," adding that "no matter how deep the disagreement between the ruling and opposition parties, it is the Assembly's duty to the public to bring bills already referred to the plenary to a vote — whether for or against."
The Democratic Party's floor leadership met with Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik on Tuesday to formally request the Thursday plenary session. Han said a significant number of the 59 bills currently before the plenary had already cleared the relevant standing committees and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee without major controversy.
He added that the five standing committees chaired by the Democratic Party — including the Legislation and Judiciary, Political Affairs, Science and ICT, National Defense, and Finance committees — had already held their inaugural meetings, and that the remaining six committees were set to convene soon to take up their agendas. He also vowed the party would not repeat "the vicious cycle of the previous Assembly session, which was mired in pointless filibusters."
The People Power Party countered that the Assembly's checks-and-balances function had been "in effect neutralized" after the Democratic Party claimed the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee as well. The party argued that the Democrats had broken with the longstanding convention under which the largest party holds the speakership while the second-largest chairs the judiciary committee to maintain oversight.
People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik, appearing on the Maeil Business News YouTube channel Wednesday, said "dialogue and compromise within the Assembly are only possible if balance is restored through the judiciary committee chairmanship," and accused the Democratic Party of "unilaterally seizing the committee chair in order to fast-track the bills it wants passed."
Jeong was more cautious, however, when asked about the party's future strategy against the ruling bloc. "There is a very real risk that the struggle itself could be reduced to a farce if we are not careful," he said, adding that he was considering consulting senior party lawmakers on the direction of future action.
The two parties also traded barbs Wednesday over stripping prosecutors of their supplementary investigative powers, with the "Jang Yun-gi case" at the center of the debate. The Democratic Party plans to introduce an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act this week to accelerate the abolition of those powers, with the broader aim of completing prosecutorial reform legislation and achieving a full separation of investigation and indictment functions.
The People Power Party, meanwhile, is rallying its forces to block the move. Jeong met with Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho at the National Assembly on Wednesday morning to convey the party's concerns. Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon also wrote on Facebook that "the Jang Yun-gi case starkly illustrates how countless victims could suffer injustice if only the police are allowed to conduct investigations."
mp1256@heraldcorp.com
