A bill to require the head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency to undergo a parliamentary confirmation hearing has been approved by the National Assembly's Steering Committee.
The committee held a subcommittee session and a full session in succession and passed the amendment to the National Assembly Act. The move is a follow-up step to allow the legislature to check the newly created investigation agency, which was established as part of prosecution reform. The bill was passed by agreement between the ruling and opposition parties without significant dispute.
The committee also cleared an amendment to the Personnel Hearing Act that would allow the president and others to request that the National Assembly send a confirmation hearing report if the legislature fails to complete a hearing for a candidate to head the agency within the statutory period.
Meanwhile, the committee saw a clash between the ruling and opposition parties over People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-sook, who held an event that drew controversy for disparaging the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement together with a New Right group. The Democratic Party sought to table a resolution calling for Lee's expulsion, but the effort collapsed amid objections from the People Power Party.
Democratic Party lawmaker Chun Jun-ho, the ruling party's floor spokesperson on the committee, criticized the PPP, saying it had "taken no action" and "even refused the Democratic Party's request to table a resolution calling for Lee's expulsion." He added that "if the People Power Party leadership takes no action because it is worried about the far-right, it is encouraging another distortion of history to occur." Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Ju-hee said, "We are asking Rep. Lee to apologize with at least a minimum of conscience," noting that "she has never once apologized to the citizens of Gwangju and the bereaved families."
In response, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Seung-su, the opposition floor spokesperson on the committee, listed past cases of harsh remarks by Democratic Party lawmakers and countered that "harsh remarks by Democratic Party lawmakers are more than plentiful." He said, "Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok made insulting remarks to a colleague, referencing Hitler and Chun Doo-hwan. If the Democratic Party truly wants to restore the authority of the National Assembly, it should apply the same principles and standards to such 'harsh-remark lawmakers.'" Fellow party lawmaker Lee Sang-hwi said, "It is misleading to portray Rep. Lee as being pushed to the far right for creating a forum for debate and to drive the argument that the People Power Party and Rep. Lee deny the May 18 uprising."
Han Byeong-do, the Democratic Party floor leader who chairs the committee, requested that the floor spokespersons of both parties confer on the schedule as the clash continued, and said that if no agreement is reached, he would table the resolution on his own authority as chair. Han said, "As chair, I find it saddening that such a thing is happening and being debated in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea right now." He added, "If no agreement is reached, I will table the resolution tomorrow on my own authority as chair, in accordance with National Assembly Act procedures."
