The People Power Party's recommendation for candidates Ji Yeong-jun and Park Hyung-myeong for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was decided to be postponed for voting and submission to the National Assembly on the 23rd by both the ruling and opposition parties. This decision came as the Democratic Party of Korea expressed a policy of a free vote on these candidates, raising speculation that they could be rejected.
People Power Party's floor leader Yoo Sang-beom stated to reporters after a meeting of the ruling and opposition party floor leaders presided over by National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik that they decided to postpone the agenda for the NHRC's standing commissioners and non-standing commissioners.
Yoo noted, "It is customary to acknowledge the standing commissioners recommended by each party," adding, "The Democratic Party of Korea strongly opposes it, so we decided to postpone it to avoid a disaster like last time, and we agreed to discuss it further with the Democratic Party of Korea."
Previously, the People Power Party recommended lawyer Ji as a successor to former standing commissioner Lee Chung-sang and lawyer Park as a successor to non-standing commissioner Han Seok-hoon. Among the 11 human rights commissioners, 4 are recommended by the National Assembly, and 2 of these are from the People Power Party.
In response, progressive civic groups are strongly opposing the two candidates by raising issues about their past actions. They point out that candidate Ji is a far-right figure who ran as a proportional candidate for the Christian Liberty Unification Party in the 21st general election and opposes human rights systems such as the anti-discrimination law, while candidate Park is criticized for making remarks supporting former President Yoon Suk-yeol's martial law. The Democratic Party of Korea has stated that they will leave the decision on these candidates to the lawmakers' "free vote." It is interpreted that, considering the possibility of rejection, the decision to postpone the election was made after discussions between the ruling and opposition parties.
In September of last year, a proposal to elect Han Seok-hoon, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University School of Law and a candidate recommended by the People Power Party, was rejected under the Democratic Party of Korea's "free vote policy."