National Assembly locked in vicious circle of partisan fights

The National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul / Yonhap

The National Assembly will likely be locked in partisan conflict for the foreseeable future, with the legislative process trapped in a vicious circle of the majority-holding opposition party tabling controversial bills unilaterally, the ruling party staging filibusters in protest and President Yoon Suk Yeol exercising his veto power.

The opposition-led National Assembly is set to pass the so-called "yellow envelope bill," which limits companies from demanding compensation from unions that stage strikes, on Monday following a filibuster by the ruling People Power Party (PPP) that lasted for nearly 31 hours.

The contentious bill's history dates back to 2014 when the Supreme Court ruled a SsangYong Motor strike in 2009 illegal and ordered unionized workers to pay 4.7 billion won ($3.4 million) in compensation to the company and the state.

In response, civic activists delivered yellow envelopes, each containing 47,000 won in donations, to support unionized workers at SsangYong Motor. This has raised the need to amend the trade union law in favor of striking workers, leading to the revision led by the opposition bloc.

The Assembly passed the bill last year, but Yoon vetoed it, given strong opposition from business groups and the PPP.

They fear that if passed, the bill will encourage illegal strikes and harm labor-management relations and the national economy.

"If companies cannot seek compensation for property damage resulting from a strike, it can encourage workers at industrial sites to stage more spontaneous strikes. This can shake the fundamentals of the entire industry, harm labor-management relations and create confusion," Rep. Choi Soo-jin, the PPP's spokesperson, said Sunday.

Lawmakers pass a controversial cash handout bill during a plenary session of the opposition-dominated National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

The National Assembly passed a controversial cash handout bill during a plenary session last Friday. The bill stipulates that every Korean citizen, as well as eligible foreign residents of Korea, receive at least 250,000 won worth of cash vouchers to support the recovery of their livelihoods.

The bill passed the National Assembly in a 186-1 vote, with Rep. Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party, a former PPP chair, casting the only "no" vote. PPP lawmakers left the session in protest.

The opposition parties currently hold 191 seats combined in the National Assembly, while the PPP holds 108 seats. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik left the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) to sit as the speaker.

The cash handout proposal was at the top of the DPK's agenda when the 22nd National Assembly opened in May. Former party leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung has said that providing cash vouchers worth 250,000 to 350,000 won per person — which should be used within four months — could boost spending and revive the economy.

The presidential office criticized the bill's passage, calling it "unconstitutional" and "populist."

"The legislature's attempt to mandate the executive's budget through law is unconstitutional, as it goes against the constitutional principle of separation of powers," a senior presidential office official said, hinting at the possibility of Yoon vetoing the bill.

Yoon has exercised his veto power 15 times since taking office in May 2022, one of the highest numbers for a president in the country's history, deepening the rift with opposition parties.

The partisan conflicts between the ruling and opposition blocs are expected to intensify over the impeachment of the broadcasting watchdog chief.

The Assembly on Friday impeached Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Chairperson Lee Jin-sook, just two days after she took office, in a 186-1 vote with one abstention.

Lee has been suspended from her job while awaiting a Constitutional Court impeachment trial. The impeachment procedure is expected to take at least four months, resulting in a long-term halt in the KCC's functions.

In August, the DPK plans to reintroduce a bill mandating a special counsel to investigate the military's handling of the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, a Marine who was killed during a search mission for victims of heavy flooding in July last year.

The DPK urged PPP Chairman Han Dong-hoon to propose a new bill calling for a special counsel chosen by a "third party" to investigate the case as he promised during his bid for the PPP leadership in June.

"Han expressed his intention to propose a 'third party' special counsel probe into the military's response to the death of the Marine but has remained silent since the PPP's national convention. He should propose a new bill, or else we will think he lied on the campaign trail," DPK floor leader Rep. Park Chan-dae said Friday.

A legislative committee plans to hold a hearing on Aug. 14 on the impeachment of a prosecutor related to first lady Kim Keon Hee's alleged stock manipulation scheme.

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jung Chung-rae of the DPK, summoned the first lady to testify at the hearing as the opposition alleges Kim was involved in the stock manipulation of Deutsch Motors, a BMW car dealer in Korea, between 2009 and 2012.