politics
Ruling and opposition parties fail to agree on parliamentary committee chairs
The two largest parties in South Korea's National Assembly did not reach a deal Tuesday on how to allocate standing committee leadership posts for the second half of the current term. The ruling party moved ahead with its own list of recommended chairs ahead of a scheduled plenary session.
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The ruling and main opposition parties in South Korea's National Assembly did not reach an agreement Tuesday on the distribution of standing committee chairmanships for the second half of the term. The ruling party unilaterally recommended 11 committee chiefs, including the chair of the legislation and judiciary committee, before a plenary session scheduled for later in the day.
Dispute centers on judiciary committee The main opposition party filed a formal protest with the National Assembly over the speaker's appointment of its lawmakers to the committees. The two sides have spent weeks negotiating the allocation of committee posts, with the sharpest disagreement over control of the judiciary committee, which reviews bills before they reach a plenary vote.
Floor leaders from both parties held last-minute talks earlier Tuesday but did not reach a compromise. The ruling party holds 161 of the 300 seats in the Assembly and therefore has the numbers to elect committee chiefs on its own if no agreement is reached.
The opposition floor leader told reporters after the meeting that checks and balances would be undermined unless the opposition chairs the judiciary committee.
