The leaders of the two major parties will meet again on the afternoon of the 24th. They will reconvene to continue discussions following a failure to reach an agreement on the redistribution of committee chairs and the schedule for the plenary session during a meeting chaired by Speaker Woo Won-sik. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea reiterated its position that it must finish re-electing committee chairs by this week at the latest to process the second supplementary budget.
Kim Hyun-jung, the spokesperson for the Democratic Party, met with reporters after a party meeting that afternoon and said, "The leaders of the ruling and opposition parties agreed to meet again at 5 p.m. today to continue discussions related to the schedule," and added, "In that meeting, both party leaders will maintain ongoing communication about the future operational direction."
The ruling and opposition parties have been engaged in a power struggle over the issue of redistributing committee chairs. The People Power Party maintains that, as the composition of the parties has changed, the chairs of the Budget and Planning Committee and the Judiciary Committee should be handed over for balance and checks in the legislature. In contrast, the Democratic Party argues that since the term of a committee chair is generally two years, it should not be a bargaining point. Currently, there are five vacant committee chair positions: the Budget Committee, Judiciary Committee, Operations Committee, Planning and Finance Committee, and Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee.
With both parties at an impasse, they have also failed to begin hearings for the second supplementary budget. In response, Speaker Woo requested that both party leaders provide the list of Budget Committee members and the results of the negotiations on redistributing committee chairs by the 26th. Following this, both parties have initiated last-minute negotiations. If an agreement is reached, there is a possibility that the committee chairs will be elected by consensus at the plenary session on the 27th.
The Democratic Party emphasized that it must complete the election of the committee chairs by this week in order to process the second supplementary budget plan for the recovery of livelihoods during the temporary National Assembly session in June (on July 4th).
Kim, the spokesperson for the Democratic Party, stated, "The 4th of July marks the end of the June temporary session, so processing the supplementary budget by then is our goal," and added, "The plenary session must be held to elect the vacant committee chairs, including the chair of the Budget Committee, by this week at the latest."
He continued, "During the afternoon meeting, we will demand that the Budget Committee chair be elected by at least this week to process the supplementary budget."
Kim Byung-ki, the acting representative of the Democratic Party and floor leader, emphasized in his opening remarks during the party meeting that "the review of the supplementary budget, approval of the Prime Minister, hearings on ministers, and formation of committees are all tasks directly linked to the livelihoods of the people," and added, "The National Assembly must function properly for the government to operate, and for the livelihoods to recover. We can no longer delay. The most important thing at this point is speed."