The Democratic Party of Korea has appointed Lee Chun-seok (4th term, Jeonbuk Iksan-si Gap), Han Byeong-do (3rd term, Jeonbuk Iksan-si Eul), and Kim Kyo-hung (3rd term, Incheon Seo-gu Gap) as chairs of the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee, Budget and Settlement Special Committee, and Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, respectively.
Moon Geum-joo, the party's floor spokesperson, noted, "We will officially announce the selection of committee chairs at tomorrow's lawmakers' meeting."
The Democratic Party of Korea has been negotiating with the People Power Party over the holding of a plenary session and the redistribution of committee chairs. However, the Democratic Party has made it clear from the early stages of negotiations that "the distribution of committee chairs ended during the negotiations regarding the formation of the first-term floor leadership last year," and it will not concede its four committee chair positions to the People Power Party. The People Power Party has been demanding a seat redistribution, insisting that in order to maintain checks and balances within the legislative body, opposition parties should hold the positions of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee chair and the Budget and Settlement Committee chair as per tradition.
Lee Chun-seok, who has been appointed as the chair of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, is a former lawyer and has served as an adjunct professor at Wonkwang University Law School. He first entered the National Assembly during the 18th National Assembly and has held various key positions within the party, including floor deputy representative, spokesperson, head of strategic public relations, and secretary general of the National Assembly. He also served as chair of the Planning and Finance Committee during the latter half of the 20th National Assembly. He is regarded as having a rational disposition as an asset.
Kim Kyo-hung is a former president of the student council at University of Incheon and actively participated in student movements, including leading the 5.3 Democratization Movement in Incheon. He began his political career as an aide during the 15th National Assembly. Subsequently, he was elected to the National Assembly in the 17th National Assembly from the Incheon Seo-gu and Ganghwa-gun Gap constituency and succeeded in his third term during the 21st and 22nd general elections. Within the party, he has served as the chief deputy secretary general and the chair of the Incheon City Party, and during the 21st National Assembly, he held positions such as chair of the Committee on Administrative Safety, secretary of the National Assembly's Special Committee on the Investigation of the Itaewon Tragedy, and secretary general of the National Assembly. He has also served as the Vice Mayor for Political Affairs in Incheon Metropolitan City, which has led to evaluations within the party noting his extensive experience in both the National Assembly and local government.
Han Byeong-do, who has been appointed as the chair of the Budget and Settlement Committee, has served as president of the student council at Wonkwang University and chairman of the Jeonbuk regional student representatives' council's Commission for Reunification. He won his seat in the National Assembly in the 17th general election in Jeonbuk Iksan Gap, but faced defeats in the 18th, 19th, and 20th general elections before succeeding in his third term during the 21st and 22nd general elections. He previously served as the chief of staff for political affairs in the Blue House under the administration of Moon Jae-in.
The chairman of the operating committee, responsible for the presidential office and the National Assembly, is expected to be Kim Byeong-ki, the Democratic Party's floor leader.