'No more time to waste on Judiciary Committee dispute'
Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Han Byung-do said Tuesday that the ruling party must retain the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to ensure stable governance and economic recovery in the second year of the Lee Jae Myung administration.
"The Democratic Party has no intention of wasting any more time on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee issue," Han said at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly on Tuesday.
His remarks came after National Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik asked both the ruling and opposition parties on Monday to submit their lists of standing committee assignments by noon Wednesday.
Han criticized the People Power Party, saying it had failed to cooperate on livelihood legislation despite holding the chairs of major economy-related committees during the first half of the Assembly term. "Since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration, they have squandered the golden window for improving people's livelihoods through reflexive opposition and blind obstruction of governance," he said.
Han argued that the Democratic Party had achieved significant results during the first half of the Assembly term — including the removal from office of the insurrection ringleader, the prosecution of those involved in the insurrection, the passage of livelihood budgets and legislation, and the advancement of prosecutorial and judicial reform bills. "All of this was possible because the Democratic Party held the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chairmanship," he said.
He added that the party would move quickly to complete the committee formation process so the Assembly could begin working in July. "We will make a decision — whether to distribute committee chairs according to seat count, or for the Democratic Party to take responsibility for all of them," he said.
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