Kim Min-seok says 15-seat threshold for parliamentary floor groups was 'just an example'

Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok said Friday that his earlier mention of 15 seats as a possible threshold for forming a parliamentary floor group was merely an example, adding that "everything can be discussed, including 10 seats." The current requirement is 20 seats. Kim said, however, that his reference to 15 seats was not without basis, pointing to the fact that 15 represents 5 percent of the National Assembly's current 300 seats.

Speaking on the Democratic Party's YouTube channel Friday, Kim addressed the Rebuilding Korea Party's push to lower the floor group threshold to 10 seats. "I expressed it as an example — 'say, 15 seats' — and that figure can certainly change through the course of discussion," he said.

"It could end up being 15, or 10, or 14, or 17," Kim said. "Everything, including 10 seats, can be discussed. It was something I offered as one example."

Kim said the 15-seat figure was not arbitrary. He noted that the lowest floor group threshold in the Assembly's history had corresponded to 5 percent of total membership — 10 seats out of 200 at the time — while the current 20-seat requirement amounts to 6.6 percent of 300 seats. "If we apply 5 percent to the current 300-seat Assembly, that comes to 15 seats," he said, adding that he had previously heard figures of around 14, 16 and 17 seats floated in discussions, which led him to use 15 as a representative example.

Kim also cited the number of standing committees as a reference point. "If you calculate that a floor group should have at least one member on each standing committee, there are currently 14 standing committees plus three joint ones, which brings the figure to around 15 — and that is why numbers between 14 and 17 come up," he said.

On the Rebuilding Korea Party's specific demand for a 10-seat threshold, Kim said the rationale was less clear-cut. "In any scenario, 10 seats is actually the one with the less obvious basis, because that figure dates back to when the Assembly had 200 seats," he said.

Kim also explained why he had recently held a separate lunch with three progressive parties — the Progressive Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Basic Income Party — without inviting the Rebuilding Korea Party. "The Rebuilding Korea Party is a potential merger partner, so it falls into a different category of discussion," he said. "The three progressive parties are simply alliance partners, and there was a separate matter to discuss with them, which is why a separate meeting was arranged."