Cheon Jun-ho, chair of the National Assembly's Subcommittee on Operational Improvement, opens the panel's first meeting at the National Assembly on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
Cheon Jun-ho, chair of the National Assembly's Subcommittee on Operational Improvement, opens the panel's first meeting at the National Assembly on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

The National Assembly's Operations Committee convened its Subcommittee on Operational Improvement on Tuesday and passed a bill to sharply shorten the review period for fast-tracked legislation, with the Democratic Party of Korea and allied forces leading the vote. People Power Party lawmakers walked out in protest, refusing to participate in the vote.

The bill would cut the standing committee review period for fast-tracked bills to 60 days from the current 180, and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's technical and wording review to 30 days from 90. It also stipulates that once a fast-tracked bill clears a full session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, it must be placed on the agenda of the next plenary session.

Under current National Assembly law, a bill designated for the fast track can take up to 330 days to complete the process — 180 days in the standing committee, 90 days in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and 60 days before it reaches a plenary vote.

Cheon Jun-ho, the Democratic Party's senior floor policy deputy, told reporters after the vote that the panel "judged it necessary to process legislation in a manner befitting the fast-track system's purpose and name." The Democratic Party plans to bring the bill to a full committee session Wednesday for final approval.

Kim Mi-ae, the People Power Party's senior floor policy deputy, met reporters immediately after walking out and criticized the Democratic Party for arriving with a predetermined conclusion. "They came in with the answer already decided — just follow along," she said, adding that the party had reduced the National Assembly to little more than a "rubber stamp" body.

The subcommittee also discussed separate Assembly reform bills Tuesday — including proposals to overhaul the filibuster system and ban the unauthorized bringing of audio equipment into the chamber — but decided to continue reviewing those measures.


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