Ruling DP unilaterally fills four of five vacant standing committee leadership posts amid opposition PPP walkout

At the parliament on this Friday.

A plenary session took place to fill the leadership posts of standing committees including those of the budget and judiciary both of which remain under the DP.

Our political correspondent Shin Ha-young reports.

Amid a bipartisan deadlock over the redistribution of standing committee chairs, the ruling Democratic Party unilaterally filled four of five vacant posts in a plenary session on Friday.

The chair positions at the Budget and Accounts; Legislation and Judiciary; House Steering; Culture, Sports and Tourism; and Strategy and Finance committees were vacant.

Of these, four positions ---excluding the Strategy and Finance Committee ---were filled by DP lawmakers, maintaining the party's control over them from the past year.

Three-term DP lawmaker Han Byung-do was appointed chair of the Special Committee on Budget and Account and will lead the review of the supplementary budget proposal.

Four-term DP lawmaker Lee Choon-suak was named chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

The main opposition People Power Party walked out of the session as it had been calling for a rebalancing of the committees' leadership, arguing that the shift in government following the recent snap presidential election justified the change.

The PPP insisted it should hold the chairs of the judiciary and budget committees to provide checks and balances on the ruling party.

"The supplementary budget is an important issue, so the PPP is willing to cooperate to quickly elect a new budget committee chair. For the other committee chairs, we believe more talks are needed to restore cooperation and bring back the National Assembly's tradition of checks and balances."

The Democratic Party, however, has maintained that the current arrangement should remain, citing last year's agreement between the two parties on a two-year term for committee chairs.

"The People Power Party is delaying the Prime Minister's confirmation and budget review over the Legislative and Judiciary Committee chair. Don't they see people are struggling with the sluggish economy? Shouldn't they help the new government get to work?"

With the Budget and Accounts Special Committee chair now in place, the review of the supplementary budget proposal is expected to gain momentum.

Shin Ha-young, Arirang News.