Since the regime was changed through the 6·3 presidential election in the People Power Party, there are claims that the chairperson of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee should be replaced by a member belonging to the People Power Party to oversee the executive branch. In response, the Democratic Party of Korea firmly stated that there is no room for negotiation.
On the morning of the 8th, Joo Jin-woo, the legal advisor of the People Power Party, posted on Facebook, "The Democratic Party of Korea should return the chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and normalize the committee," adding, "Last year, the Democratic Party claimed that 'oversight of the executive branch by the legislature' was more important than 'parliamentary practice' and monopolized the positions of chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Operating Committee."
Chairperson Joo noted, "Historically, the chairperson of the National Assembly and the chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee have been held by different parties for mutual oversight," pointing out that "the Democratic Party ignored this practice, which resulted in the disappearance of cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties, and key bills that would greatly affect people's livelihoods could not be deliberated."
He added, "Now the Democratic Party is the ruling party. As the Democratic Party has argued, the National Assembly must be able to oversee the executive branch," and emphasized, "As the chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee representing the Democratic Party, it is impossible to properly review legislation and verify personnel in the judiciary. The first task of the new government is not 'unification in words' but 'normalization of the National Assembly.'"
Currently, Representative Jung Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party, serves as the chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Representative Joo's assertion suggests that the chairperson should be changed to a member of the People Power Party. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee is classified as a 'senate' that bills must pass through after going through each standing committee.
In the 22nd National Assembly, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee handled investigation-related bills such as the special prosecutor law for insurrection and the special prosecutor law regarding Kim Keon-hee, as well as amendments to the Commercial Act. It also played a role in 'lending struggles' by sending contentious bills like the 'yellow envelope law (amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act)' to the plenary session.
On this day, Rep. Seo Yeong-kyo, who is running in the Democratic Party's floor leadership election, held a press conference at the National Assembly and dismissed such claims from the opposition, stating, "Standing committees are negotiated every two years, and it is not appropriate to demand reassignment just because the floor leader changes after one year."
He also said, "The chairpersons of standing committees were negotiated and allocated according to the number of seats as the 22nd National Assembly was launched," adding, "Now is not the time to discuss the chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee."
Regarding the three major special prosecutor laws, including the 'Insurrection · Kim Keon-hee · Chae Sang-byeong' special prosecutor law, which passed under the leadership of the Democratic Party on the 5th, he said, "I will discuss with the current floor leader Park Chan-dae to quickly recommend a special prosecutor."