The second regular session of the National Assembly under the Lee Jae-myung administration opened on the 1st, but a wave of confirmation hearings stemming from a Cabinet reshuffle has thrown the 100-day legislative calendar into doubt. With bills on mega special zones and a 821 trillion won budget review ahead, about 10 hearings for ministerial, Supreme Court justice and special inspector nominees are set to crowd the schedule, making the vetting fight between the two parties the biggest variable early in the session.
The regular session runs from that day through December 9. Floor speeches by the negotiating blocs are scheduled for the 7th and 8th, with Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok speaking for the ruling party and People Power Party floor leader Chung Jum-sik for the opposition.
Interpellation sessions begin on the 9th with politics, followed by foreign affairs, unification and security on the 10th, the economy on the 11th, and education, society and culture on the 14th. The parliamentary audit of government agencies runs for three weeks starting October 6.
During the session, the Democratic Party plans to push ahead with mega special zone legislation, livelihood bills and the budget review. The People Power Party, by contrast, plans to concentrate on vetting nominees while pursuing alternative legislation aimed at government policy.
"We will make sure livelihood legislation does not stall because of confirmation hearings and that the budget review is not delayed by political strife," Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do said that day, signaling action on bills to expand housing supply, stamp out property speculation and stabilize prices. He said the 2027 budget would also be passed within the statutory deadline.
The party plans to handle follow-up legislation for core policy tasks during the session, including three mega projects and a future response fund package.
The string of hearings, however, could disrupt that timetable. According to the Democratic Party, confirmation requests for ministerial nominees at six government departments will be submitted to the National Assembly this week. Those come on top of a consent motion for Supreme Court justice nominee Kim Sung-soo, submitted on the 31st of last month, and a hearing request for special inspector nominee Choi Gil-soo, due this week.
Under the National Assembly Act, confirmation procedures must be completed within 20 days of a request being submitted, meaning much of September's standing committee calendar will be given over to hearings. That has raised expectations that reviews of follow-up bills for the three mega projects and housing supply measures, both promoted by the ruling party leadership, could be pushed back.
The People Power Party is preparing to go all out on vetting, unlike the Democratic Party, which is rushing to wrap up the hearings before the Chuseok holiday. Party leader Chang Dong-hyuk criticized the nominations, saying the administration had "named Rep. Kim Seung-won, co-chair of a group calling for indictments to be withdrawn, as justice minister" and had "put forward the preposterous Yong Hye-in card in response to young people's anger." The Democratic Party aims to complete the confirmation process by the 24th, before the Chuseok break, but it is unclear whether that schedule will hold if the opposition steps up its scrutiny.
