The Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party had not reached an agreement on forming the latter half of the Assembly as of the 16th, a day before Constitution Day. It has been 42 days since the parties elected the National Assembly leadership by agreement. With the Democratic Party planning to convene a plenary session on the 20th to extend the comprehensive special counsel law, the People Power Party plans to counter with a filibuster.
Democratic Party floor leader Han Byeong-do and People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik met at the National Assembly in the afternoon to discuss the formation of the Assembly but ended their talks in about 10 minutes without reaching an agreement.
Meeting with reporters right after the talks, Han said, "It is not concluded," and added, "We will continue consultations for the formation of the Assembly and the normalization of the National Assembly." Jeong also said, "You can guess from the fact the negotiations ended in a short time," and added, "There has been no progress, so today's talks will end for now, but we will continue to consult."
Earlier, National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik asked the ruling and opposition floor leaders to complete the formation of the Assembly by Constitution Day. But the agreement fell through, and the People Power Party also plans to skip the Constitution Day ceremony at the National Assembly on the 17th. Jeong said, "In the current situation, it is difficult to attend the Constitution Day event."
Next week, there is a growing possibility that the first filibuster standoff of the latter half of the Assembly will take place. The Democratic Party of Korea plans to open a plenary session on Monday to handle the extension of the "second comprehensive special counsel law." Because the bill requires presidential approval three days before the deadline to extend it, handling it that day is unavoidable given the schedule. In response, the People Power Party has issued a standby order to its lawmakers at the National Assembly starting on the 20th through a notice.