On April 27, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug (pictured) opened a parliamentary session to enact a bill that would strip the Prosecution Service of its investigative power. He seemed to believe there was sufficient cause since the People Power Party broke the agreement. The speaker expressed “deep regret” toward the People Power Party.

This afternoon, the speaker released a statement after an hour-long meeting with the ruling and opposition party floor leaders at the National Assembly and said, “As speaker, I believe that we must keep the promise that was publicly made to the people after the ruling and opposition party floor leaders reached an agreement, which was later ratified in the general meeting of lawmakers,” and opened the parliamentary session at 5 p.m. Earlier, on his way to work, Park spoke on the possibility of opening a session and said, “I am considering various factors.”

In his statement, Park criticized the People Power Party. He said, “The agreement on prosecutorial reforms that the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties and the parliamentary speaker announced to the people on April 22, after it was ratified in the general meeting of lawmakers and officially signed, was a promise to the people,” and added, “The (presidential) transition committee also announced that it respected the fact that the floor accepted the compromise.” The speaker continued and said, “But the opposition party went back on their word.” Nevertheless, Park patiently tried once again to engage in dialogue. He said, “In the end, the opposition party refused even this. I express my deep regret.”

The reason Park opened the session right away this day seems to be because he believed there was no need to put it off any longer since there was no likelihood of negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties. The amendments of the Prosecutors’ Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act were passed in the parliamentary Legislation and Judiciary Committee at around 00:11 a.m. this day. According to the National Assembly Act, after a bill is reviewed and a report is submitted to the speaker, at least a day must pass before it can be presented before the National Assembly. However, the law stipulates an exception and allows the speaker to present the bill before the National Assembly right away if for some reason, he has discussed the legislation with the representatives of each negotiation group. Speaker Park decided that the latest situation called for an exception and practically sided with the Democratic Party of Korea.

Park accepted the Democratic Party’s request to split the parliamentary session, which would neutralize the People Power Party’s filibuster. Originally, the April special session was scheduled to last until May 4.

If the speaker opens a new special session, the bill can be put to a vote in the National Assembly. The Democratic Party submitted a request for a special session on April 30 and May 3, and the speaker announced a special session on April 30. In his statement, the speaker stressed, “I have already announced that I would run the National Assembly in the same direction as the party that accepts the compromise, regardless of what party that may be.”