With key economic committees secured, will Democrats push ahead on capital markets and real estate tax reform?

The Democratic Party of Korea forced through the election of 11 standing committee chairs — including the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee — as well as the chair of the Budget and Accounts Special Committee, formally opening the second half of the 22nd National Assembly.

The Democratic Party left seven committee chair seats vacant for the People Power Party, but the PPP pushed back hard, denouncing what it called "legislative dictatorship by the ruling party," signaling a period of intense friction between the two sides.

Han Byung-do, the Democratic Party's acting leader and floor leader, pressed the PPP at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on Tuesday. "A full month has slipped by without the second-half Assembly taking even its first step, thanks to the PPP's groundless obstruction and stubbornness," he said. "Cooperate now on electing the remaining seven committee chairs."

Han also hinted at possible amendments to the National Assembly Act, including tightening the threshold for filibusters and shortening the fast-track designation period. "If the PPP kicks even this aside and obstructs the Assembly's operation, the Democratic Party will use every means available to complete the normalization of the Assembly," he said.

The Democratic Party and the PPP met three times on Monday — including a session presided over by Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik — to continue negotiations over the committee lineup, but the talks ultimately broke down. At a plenary session that convened around 7:52 p.m. that evening, the Democratic Party moved swiftly to elect 11 of its own members as committee chairs.

The Democratic Party held on to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair — the sticking point that had deadlocked negotiations with the PPP — retaining incumbent chair Rep. Seo Yeong-gyo. Seo had filled the post for roughly three months after it was vacated when former chair Choo Mi-ae left to run in the June 3 local elections. The Democratic Party had argued it needed to control the judiciary committee, which holds the power to review legislative language and structure, to counter the PPP's efforts to block legislation. The PPP had insisted it was not customary for the largest party to hold both the Assembly speakership and the judiciary committee chair, but that argument did not prevail.

The Democratic Party also secured the chairs of the Finance and Economy Planning Committee and the Government Policy Committee — two major economic panels whose chairs had been held by PPP lawmakers in the first half of the Assembly. Rep. Cho Seung-rae, a former secretary-general of the party, was elected chair of the finance committee, and Rep. Yoo Dong-su, who had served as senior deputy chair for economic affairs on the party's policy committee, was elected chair of the Government Policy Committee. Rep. Oh Gi-hyeong, who chairs the party's special committee on the K-capital market, will serve as the finance committee's ranking member, while Rep. Park Sang-hyeok, who worked alongside Yoo on the party's policy committee, will serve as the Government Policy Committee's ranking member.

The Democratic Party is widely seen as having effectively bypassed the policy committee last year — amending the Commercial Act three times through the judiciary committee to advance capital market legislation after bill processing stalled in the policy committee. There is now growing expectation that discussions on legislation such as banning dual listings and revitalizing Kosdaq could gain momentum in the policy committee. The finance committee, meanwhile, could see renewed debate on tax reform proposals including a real estate holding tax overhaul.

Among the economic committees, the Democratic Party ceded the chairs of the Industry, Trade, Resources, SMEs and Startups Committee and the Land and Transportation Committee — which handles major real estate legislation — to the PPP.

Rep. Cheon Jun-ho, the Democratic Party's senior floor management deputy, told reporters on Monday that the split was based on seat ratios — 11 to 7 — and that the party had maintained its position that it needed the judiciary committee to properly advance state policy priorities. "The land and transportation committee and the industry committee have traditionally attracted many member requests, so we allocated them to the opposition," he said.

Meanwhile, the PPP pushed back sharply against the Democratic Party's moves. Immediately after boycotting the plenary vote, PPP lawmakers staged a silent protest outside the Assembly speaker's office, holding signs reading "Democratic Party's runaway committee formation" and "Democratic Party-style intimidation of the people." They then surrounded the speaker's podium during the plenary session and demanded a halt to the committee chair elections.

PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik said the party would "not accept any committee assignment without a proper normalization of the committee formation process." The PPP's floor administration office also announced through a press notice on Monday that Speaker Jo had "forcibly appointed members to 11 standing committees and notified them accordingly," adding that the party had submitted formal resignation letters to the Assembly's proceedings office on behalf of its lawmakers who had been assigned to committees without their consent.