[Anchor]

Two days after the Democratic Party of Korea (DP) unilaterally formed 11 standing committees, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, it convened the Judiciary Committee today (July 2). The committee has begun work on an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which would abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation powers. The People Power Party (PPP) has protested, calling it a declaration of parliamentary dictatorship, and has decided on a strategy of struggle against the ruling party by refusing to cooperate with the formation of the assembly.

Reporter Kim Bo-mi has the story.

[Reporter]

Today, just two days after 11 standing committee chairs were elected by the DP alone on the night of June 30, the first plenary session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for the latter half of the 22nd National Assembly was held, also led by the DP.

Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chair Seo Young-kyo of the DP announced that she would table over 100 bills, including the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act aimed at abolishing the prosecution's supplementary investigation powers, next week. She also pressured the PPP to submit its list of committee members by July 6.

[Seo Young-kyo / Chair, Legislation and Judiciary Committee: We will faithfully review major bills pending in the Judiciary Committee, such as the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act to achieve prosecutorial reform and the special act on statutes of limitations for anti-human rights state crimes...]

The PPP defined the DP's formation of the assembly as parliamentary dictatorship and held a general meeting of lawmakers to discuss countermeasures.

[We are outraged by the one-sided dictatorship and the seizure of the National Assembly!]

PPP lawmakers reached a consensus not to cooperate in any way with the DP's unilateral operation of the National Assembly.

[Jung Jeom-sik / Floor Leader, People Power Party: Because we cannot agree to the DP's initial formation of the assembly, we have set a clear direction for our struggle: we have no intention of cooperating with the formation of the assembly in the future.]

While some lawmakers suggested securing the seven standing committee chair positions offered by the DP to the PPP before continuing the struggle, it was reported that the opinion that a hardline struggle is necessary prevailed.

[Kim So-hee / PPP Lawmaker (SBS Joo Young-jin's News Briefing): I felt that we must take extreme measures so that the public can be aware of this situation, and that we should even show the determination of all PPP lawmakers resigning en masse.]

Two years ago, when the DP pushed for a unilateral formation of the assembly for the first half of the 22nd National Assembly, the PPP responded by boycotting the National Assembly. However, it decided to participate in the standing committees 15 days later, citing the need to address pending issues.

(Video coverage: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Lee Seung-hee)