The People Power Party opposed the amendment to the Government Organization Act being pushed by the government and ruling party and signaled a filibuster (unlimited debate). However, it has not yet decided whether to respond with a filibuster to all the bills that the Democratic Party of Korea will place on the floor on the 25th.
Choi Eun-seok, the People Power Party's senior deputy floor spokesperson, told reporters after a policy general meeting of lawmakers held at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 22nd, "We decided to listen further to lawmakers' views and then decide whether to filibuster all bills at the plenary session or focus on contentious bills."
He added, "It seems the Democratic Party also has not reached a conclusion on some of the bills to be placed on the floor on the 25th, so we decided to watch the situation, review internal opinions further, and then reach a conclusion," while noting, "However, there is more weight to the need to filibuster the entire slate of bills."
The Democratic Party plans to place on the floor on the 25th an amendment to the Government Organization Act whose main points include abolishing the Prosecutors' Office and separating the tax and budget functions of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The amendment to the Government Organization Act passed the full session of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee that day and is expected to be referred to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 24th.
At its general meeting of lawmakers that day, the People Power Party reviewed the status of organizational restructuring of the ministries under the jurisdiction of each standing committee. It opposed splitting the Ministry of Economy and Finance and restructuring the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service on the grounds that it would tighten regulations on financial institutions, and it opposed abolishing the Prosecutors' Office citing delays in investigations of livelihood-related crimes. Regarding the restructuring of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, it pointed out that in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), electricity supply could become difficult.
People Power Party floor leader Song Eon-seok said, "The government reorganization plan put forward by the Lee Jae-myung administration can only be seen as a live experiment on the executive branch," adding, "They are taking too lightly the idea of splitting ministries and tearing off parts of ministries to stick them onto other ministries."
Rep. Park Soo-young, the opposition secretary of the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee, said, "The idea of stripping the budget function from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and placing a Ministry of Planning and Budget under the prime minister means, in effect, the budget function will be transferred under the presidential office," adding, "Under the Lee Jae-myung government, national liability is expected to increase, and that debt will have to be repaid 30 years from now by our children and our grandchildren."
Rep. Seo Beom-soo, the opposition secretary of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, criticized, "The amendment to the Government Organization Act was introduced on the 15th and referred to the Public Administration and Security Committee on the 17th, and with the goal of passing the plenary session on the 25th, the Government Organization Act passed the committee today," asking, "You can reorganize the government, but can it be done slapdash, in a rush, within 10 days?"