[Anchor]

As negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties to form the leadership for the second half of the 22nd National Assembly ultimately collapsed, the Democratic Party of Korea has moved to unilaterally elect 11 standing committee chairs based on the ratio of parliamentary seats. We have a reporter at the National Assembly.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon, is the plenary session currently underway?

[Reporter]

Yes, the plenary session of the National Assembly began around 7:30 PM and is currently in progress.

The Democratic Party has set a policy to unilaterally elect 11 out of the 18 total standing committee chairs through a vote.

The Democratic Party has nominated 11 of its own lawmakers for these positions, including Seo Young-kyo for the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Kim Young-jin for the Public Administration and Security Committee, and Song Ki-hun for the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee, and the process of electing them one by one is currently underway.

The People Power Party, protesting the Democratic Party's unilateral election, held a picket protest inside the plenary session hall.

In June 2024, during the formation of the first half of the 22nd National Assembly, the Democratic Party also unilaterally processed the election of 11 standing committee chairs first.

[Anchor]

The ruling and opposition parties were at odds over the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair, right?

[Reporter]

Yes, the two sides failed to find a compromise as both insisted on taking the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which serves as the final gateway for bills before they move to the plenary session.

[Voice] Han Byung-do / Democratic Party Floor Leader: The National Assembly has been almost at a standstill. We can no longer leave it neglected...

[Voice] Jung Jeom-sik / People Power Party Floor Leader: We must put a brake on the ruling party's arrogant, runaway formation of the National Assembly leadership.

The People Power Party protested that National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, who is from the Democratic Party, forcibly assigned their members to the 11 standing committees, and announced that all of them would resign from their posts.

The Democratic Party maintains that it will leave the remaining seven standing committee chair positions to the People Power Party based on the ratio of seats, but they have warned that if the party continues to refuse to participate in the formation of the leadership, they will take all seven of those positions as well.

Meanwhile, the motion for the appointment of Prime Minister nominee Han Seong-sook is also expected to be passed shortly in today's (the 30th) plenary session, led by the Democratic Party.

(On-site coverage: Seo Jin-ho | Video editing: Oh Young-taek)