A special committee to handle the special act on investment in the United States hit a snag from its first meeting on the 12th. The meeting was switched to a closed session and then halted due to ruling and opposition party disagreements over the constitutional complaint system that passed The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee the previous day.
The special committee held a plenary meeting at the main building of the National Assembly on the morning of the day and appointed Representative Kim Sang-hun of the People Power Party as Chairperson, with Representative Jeong Tae-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea and Representative Park Su-young of the People Power Party as secretaries. The committee had initially planned to receive government briefings on fiscal and economic affairs at the meeting.
However, as the People Power Party continued to raise issues over the bills on increasing the number of Supreme Court justices and on the constitutional complaint that passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee the previous day during the proceedings, the meeting was switched to a closed session after 20 minutes.
Representative Park Su-young of the People Power Party said, "It is truly incomprehensible to push through, unilaterally, a bill that effectively introduces a four-tier appeals system and increases the number of Supreme Court justices," adding, "There is no guarantee that, no matter how much the special committee discusses, it will not be railroaded. Let's recess today's meeting and reconvene after the ruling and opposition parties reach an agreement on measures to prevent a one-sided push."
In response, Representative Jeong Tae-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea countered, "The special committee should proceed with its own work, and political pending issues should be handled through consultations by the floor leadership," adding, "It would be difficult for the public to accept dragging other political issues into the operation of the special committee."
With the two sides at odds, Chairperson Kim Sang-hun switched the meeting to a closed session. Some ruling party lawmakers also protested the move to close the session. After differing views failed to be narrowed, the meeting was suspended for now.