The National Assembly held a plenary session on the 23rd and elected the chairpersons of six standing committees, including the Education Committee. All were People Power Party chairpersons, concluding the formation of the latter half of the 22nd National Assembly in 54 days.
That afternoon, the National Assembly held a plenary session and elected the chairpersons of the Education Committee, Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Trade. Industry Energy. SMEs. and Startups Committee, Health and Welfare Committee, Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee, and Intelligence Committee.
All the standing committee chairpersons elected this time are from the People Power Party. By committee, Rep. Kim Hee-jeong was elected Education Committee chair, Rep. Song Seok-jun was elected Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee chair, Rep. Kim Sung-won was elected Trade. Industry Energy. SMEs. and Startups Committee chair, Rep. Lee Man-hee was elected Health and Welfare Committee chair, Rep. Yu Eui-dong was elected Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee chair, and Rep. Lee Yang-soo was elected Intelligence Committee chair. The Gender Equality and Family Committee will be elected later after internal coordination within the People Power Party.
Earlier, the Democratic Party of Korea unilaterally elected the chairpersons of 10 standing committees, including The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and the Special Committee on Budget & Accounts. National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik, citing the need for smooth operations, also forcibly assigned People Power Party lawmakers to each standing committee. At the time, the People Power Party protested the ruling party's unilateral handling and submitted mass resignations.
With all standing committee chairpersons decided, the People Power Party is expected to return to standing committee activities. It judged that responding to key contentious bills within the committees is more realistic than a full boycott of committee activities.
People Power Party Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik said at a caucus meeting that morning, "The standing committees will be the seeds for victory in the general election two years from now and for normalizing the National Assembly," adding, "We will prepare for changes that will, through relentless checks and fights, restore the National Assembly to normal."