As the July extraordinary National Assembly commenced on the 7th, both the ruling and opposition parties prepared for a clash from the outset. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea began to drive legislation totaling over 40 cases, focusing on bills that had been nullified by the presidential veto (request for reconsideration) during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, while the People Power Party announced plans for thorough verification centered around the real estate policies of the Lee Jae-myung administration, gearing up for a strong public opinion battle. However, it seems the government and ruling party will only launch their legislative sprint after completing cabinet appointments following personnel hearings in mid-month.
The Democratic Party plans to process over 40 bills in this extraordinary session, including 13 contentious bills that were discarded due to vetoes during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, 16 bipartisan livelihood pledges, and 11 party priority bills.
The major bill list announced by Jin Sung-jun, chair of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, last month includes ▲Yellow Envelope Act (Amendments to Labor Union Law Articles 2 and 3) ▲Agricultural Four Laws (Grain Management Act, Agricultural and Fishery Price Stabilization Act, etc.) ▲Commercial Act Amendment (Expansion of the cumulative voting system and the separate election of audit committee members) ▲Educational Finance Grant-in-aid Law ▲Primary and Secondary Education Act ▲Bills related to the safe fare system for freight trucks.
In particular, the ruling party aims to ensure that the bills vetoed by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration pass in the July extraordinary session. A key representative from the ruling party emphasized, “The goal is to focus on processing 40 key bills in the July extraordinary National Assembly, especially those vetoed by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.”
Among the priority bills to be processed in the July extraordinary assembly, the Yellow Envelope Act is one of President Lee Jae-myung's key pledges. It contains provisions for expanding the scope of users and strictly limiting the conditions for claims for damages resulting from strikes. While labor circles support this as legislation to guarantee “the three labor rights,” the economic sector and opposition insist it poses “excessive risks of management shrinkage.”
The Democratic Party has also expressed plans to process the Agricultural Four Laws, including the Grain Management Act, before the harvest season in August and September. Minister Song Mi-ryeong from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, who had opposed related bills during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, is now proposing compromises to align with the ruling party.
The Broadcasting Three Laws are also being expedited at the committee level. The amendments propose increasing the number of KBS board members from 11 to 15 and the number of members of the Korea Communications Foundation (major shareholder of MBC) and EBS from 9 to 13, as well as diversifying the recommendation entities. This is a representative bill that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration vetoed, citing “attempts to control broadcasting.” The Broadcasting Three Laws were passed solely by the Democratic Party during the full meeting of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on that day.
Judicial reform is also one of the key pillars of the Democratic Party's legislative drive. The Democratic Party plans to fully launch a bill for 'prosecutorial reform,' focused on separating investigation and prosecution, starting this month. An internal task force (TF) for related legislation is also underway. Starting with a public hearing by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 9th, the goal is to pass the bill before the Chuseok holiday. This is a revised version of the ‘prosecutorial reform bill’ that was nullified during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, and intense debate between the ruling and opposition parties is expected.
In response, the People Power Party announced that it would counter the Democratic Party's legislative 'sprint' with public opinion campaigns. Song Eon-seok, the chairman of the People Power Party's emergency response committee and chief whip, said on the 7th, “Rather than increasing the overall pie of our economy, this legislative sprint is focused on pie distribution for unions and interest groups that politically supported President Lee Jae-myung,” revealing their firm opposition stance on the key bills, including the Broadcasting Three Laws, Yellow Envelope Act, and Agricultural Four Laws.
The People Power Party also criticized the government's recent financial regulations that limit the housing mortgage loan ceiling to 600 million won, stating, “This justifies residential inequality,” and has begun a full-scale response to 'supporting real estate livelihoods.' They plan to establish an internal 'real estate task force (TF)' to demand modifications and complements to government measures while preparing a public opinion campaign against the Democratic Party-led passage of bills.
However, the effective processing of bills in the July extraordinary National Assembly is expected to begin in earnest after the cabinet appointments are finalized. Personnel hearings for key ministers from ministries such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Ministry of Employment and Labor are scheduled until mid-month, so practical discussions for legislative promotion between the government and ruling party are likely to only start in earnest afterward.
A Democratic Party official stated, “We need to finalize the personnel hearings before we can align on livelihood legislation related to government ministries,” adding, “I think legislative discussions will officially ramp up only after mid-July.”
Kang Hoon, the chief of staff to the president, requested on the 6th during a high-level party-government meeting that, “If the hearing process is delayed, subsequent schedules will become unpredictable,” calling for rapid progress in the personnel hearings, while acting party leader and chief whip Kim Byeong-gi responded, “We will ensure that the personnel hearings for ministers proceed without disruption according to schedule in the July National Assembly,” which is interpreted as being aimed at ensuring speed in upcoming livelihood legislation.