People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik reversed an earlier decision not to attend and decided to take part in the Constitution Day ceremony at the National Assembly on the 17th. However, Jang Dong-hyeok will not attend and plans to join a rally at Olympic Park.
The People Power Party said on the night of the 16th that floor leader Jeong and some members of the leadership will attend the Constitution Day ceremony.
Earlier, the People Power Party had planned to skip the Constitution Day event as part of its boycott of the National Assembly schedule in protest of the Democratic Party of Korea's unilateral formation of parliamentary committees and other actions.
Jeong also said earlier in the day, after talks with the Democratic Party floor leadership to normalize the National Assembly ended without results, "It is difficult to take part in the Constitution Day event in this situation," but later changed course.
By contrast, Jang will not attend the Constitution Day ceremony. Jang has been traveling nationwide to join rallies condemning the infringement of suffrage in the June 3 local elections and plans to attend the Olympic Park rally on the 17th.
At the "ceremony calling for the repeal of the amended Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection and delivering consent signatures for a people's special counsel," held at the National Assembly earlier in the day, Jang criticized the ruling party's handling of the National Assembly and election management and announced that he would not attend the Constitution Day event.
The People Power Party's youth organization delivered to Jang more than 25,000 signatures calling for the introduction of a special counsel recommended by the opposition in connection with the shortage of ballot papers in the June 3 local elections. Jang distributed "suffrage protection badges" to 109 party lawmakers and urged them to wear them.
The 78th Constitution Day ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on the 17th in the central hall of the National Assembly building. The event is expected to be attended by National Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik, Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de, Constitutional Court President Kim Sang-hwan, Prime Minister Han Seong-sook and other leaders of the four branches of government, as well as ruling and opposition party leadership.