Assembly speaker calls for legislation that improves lives as regular session opens

National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik said Tuesday that "improving people's lives through legislation that meets the demands of the times is the legislature's foremost duty," adding that constitutional revision must also be pursued from the perspective of the future and national unity.

Cho made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the regular session held in the main chamber of the National Assembly. "The 22nd National Assembly opens its third regular session today and begins a 100-day journey," he said. "Both the budget that determines the people's livelihoods and the bills that change their lives all hinge on this regular session."

With the government set to submit its budget proposal to the Assembly on Thursday, Cho said lawmakers must "review the budget proposal thoroughly and pass it by Dec. 2, the legally mandated deadline." He added that pending livelihood bills in standing committees must be diligently reviewed and processed.

He said the October national audit should carefully examine government policy — giving credit where it is due and correcting what needs to be corrected.

Cho thanked the ruling and opposition party leaderships for their efforts to produce results through cooperative governance, and proposed that the two sides "start by resolving the most urgent livelihood issues." He said the top priority of the regular session is to narrow the gap between the country's economic performance and household finances, and to spread the warmth of growth more evenly.

He further proposed establishing a tradition of cooperative governance in which livelihood bills referred to the plenary session are processed within the same legislative term, in order to build a more effective National Assembly.

Cho said the country needs "two wheels — the future and unity — to become a nation where people are happy." He put forward four agenda items for the future: AI and advanced technology, youth, the climate crisis, and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"Let us pass bills related to national strategic technologies — including semiconductors, AI and advanced biotech — during this regular session," he said, calling on the ruling and opposition parties to jointly create a framework for addressing youth issues and to consolidate youth policy scattered across multiple ministries into a comprehensive plan.

For the unity agenda, he identified four items: a basic society, balanced regional development, social dialogue and national integration.

Cho also said parliamentary diplomacy should open doors where government diplomacy cannot reach, and that the two parties should "move quickly as one team on trade and foreign economic legislation tied to the national interest." He noted that the second anniversary of the lifting of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law falls during the regular session. "I promised to pursue Dec. 3 — the day the people defended the democratic republic — as 'National People's Sovereignty Day,'" he said. "Together with the people, we will proudly plant a great milestone for democracy in the National Assembly."