There is talk that the status of the Democratic Party of Korea's policy committee is not what it used to be. As the party handled national agenda items such as "prosecution and judicial reform," the Basic Act on Digital Assets, and amendments to the Commercial Act, lawmakers in the party repeatedly did not follow the plans put forward by the policy committee.
Political circles cite the bill to establish the Public Prosecution Office, part of "prosecution reform," as a prime example. According to ChosunBiz reporting, the party leadership, including the policy committee, sought to promptly adopt the government's reintroduced bill as the party line, given that the Public Prosecution Office must launch in Oct.
The policy committee moved to persuade lawmakers by sharing in advance the briefings it received from the task force for pushing prosecution reform. However, lawmakers on The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee reportedly opposed the plan over several disagreements, including the title "prosecutor general" and issues surrounding disciplinary action for prosecutors. In the end, the party adopted its position on the condition that "the Legislation and Judiciary Committee can adjust the government bill through coordination with the floor leadership."
The same is true of the crime of legal distortion, for which the policy committee emphasized the need for revision. From the outset, the policy committee's position was that among the Criminal Act amendment provisions containing the crime of legal distortion, the clause "when a person intentionally misapplies a statute to favor or disadvantage one party" violates the principle of clarity and should be deleted, with some other provisions revised. But this too was blocked by some lawmakers in the party who argued there are overseas legislative precedents, and a general meeting of lawmakers decided to pass it without changes.
A so-called "policy committee bypass" has also appeared while handling economic bills. For the third amendment to the Commercial Act, which includes a mandate to retire treasury shares, the policy committee sought exceptions for small and venture businesses and involuntary treasury shares. But those were not reflected, and the bill proposed by the Special Committee on K-Capital Markets was placed on the floor.
For the Basic Act on Digital Assets, which covers stablecoin issuance and the virtual asset industry framework, the policy committee is pushing the Financial Services Commission plan that centers issuers on a bank-led consortium. But the party's digital asset task force (TF) is preparing its own bill, saying it must build a digital asset ecosystem.
As this pattern repeats, voices within the Democratic Party's floor leadership are saying there is a problem. They note that party lawmakers, as members of the ruling party, should respect what the party leadership has agreed upon with the government rather than sticking to personal positions, but that has not been the case.
A member of the floor leadership said, "Given that President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating is high and this is the early stage of the administration, party lawmakers should respect what the policy committee has coordinated with the government," and added, "At times it even looks like a 'family quarrel' where the policy committee and floor leadership are at odds with party lawmakers, and there are moments when it feels incompatible with being the ruling party."
Another Democratic Party official also noted, "Opposing key bills pushed by the party leadership on grounds of personal beliefs is something you can do when in the opposition," and pointed out, "Some still seem to act like the opposition, or to be thinking about so-called 'personal politics' and their own interests."