As negotiations to form the leadership for the latter half of the 22nd National Assembly get underway in earnest, the rival parties are locked in a showdown over the chair of The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Legislation and Judiciary Committee). The chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee holds the final gate in the legislative process and is a key post that can determine the speed and direction of handling bills.
On the 14th, Choi Bo-yoon, senior spokesperson of the People Power Party, said in a commentary, "To stop this administration's scheme to destroy the judiciary, the opposition must take the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair," adding, "The only last bulwark that can check and neutralize the Democratic Party's unilateral special prosecutor bill rampage and the Ministry of Justice's crafty abuse of authority is the Legislation and Judiciary Committee."
She also took issue with the Ministry of Justice launching the "Prosecution Human Rights Respect Future Committee" under its wing, saying, "It is hard to accept how an outside committee intends to uncover again an alleged fabrication that neither the prosecution's own task force nor the National Assembly could determine."
Choi, the senior spokesperson, added, "The only way to follow the stern public sentiment of the June 3 local elections, which called for preventing the privatization of power, is for the opposition to hold the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair and fully restore the National Assembly's check-and-balance function."
The Democratic Party strongly criticized the People Power Party's demand for the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair in a commentary the day before. Lee Ju-hee, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, said, "The People Power Party invoking the principle of checks and balances to demand the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair is a brazen argument that forgets its irresponsible history of hobbling the National Assembly," adding, "In the first half, the pace of handling reform tasks and livelihood bills was conspicuously slow in the National Policy Committee, the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, and the National Defense Committee, where the People Power Party held the chair."
Lee, the floor spokesperson, noted that the National Assembly must not be mired in political strife and said, "This is why we cannot hand the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair—which can hold all standing committee bills in limbo—over to the People Power Party, which has repeatedly delayed legislation." She added, "Having the ruling party hold the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair is necessary to swiftly support the government's policy agenda through legislation and to push forward pending livelihood legislation without setbacks."
In the first half of the 22nd National Assembly, the Democratic Party of Korea held the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and lawmakers Jung Chung-rae, Lee Chun-seok, Choo Mi-ae, and Seo Young-kyo served as chair. The chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee reviews the structure and wording of bills that have passed each standing committee and coordinates whether they are placed on the plenary session agenda, thus determining the speed and direction of handling bills at the final stage of the legislative process.