[Politics & Diplomacy] National Assembly faces hectic week over internal party developments at...

Описание: [Politics & Diplomacy] National Assembly faces hectic week over internal party developments at DP and PPP

이혜훈 청문회 파행, 당내 갈등 점화… 이모저모로 바쁜 국회의 이번주 전망

Both the ruling and opposition parties are facing a hectic week, ranging from hunger strikes to growing internal party tensions.
To take a closer look at the key political moments at the National Assembly this week, we have our political correspondent Ahn Sung-jin with us for more.
Welcome, Sung-jin.

Thanks for having me, Dami.

So, Sung-jin, the biggest issue this week was supposed to be the confirmation hearing for the nominee for minister of planning and budget, but it seems like it did not go as planned.

Right Dami, the ruling and main opposition parties clashed on Monday as the National Assembly Finance Committee failed to move forward with the confirmation hearing for Lee Hye-hoon, nominee for minister of planning and budget, over a dispute on the submission of requested materials, notably with Lee absent.

The committee was supposed to convene at 10 AM, but quickly became mired in partisan confrontation.
The PPP described the hearing as “meaningless” with the lack of cooperation, noting that only 15 percent of the requested materials had been submitted by the agreed-upon deadline.
Members of the PPP called for an adjournment.

The DP, on the other hand, urged the committee to proceed, arguing that hearings have been held in the past despite incomplete material and that the public should be allowed to assess the nominee.
However, the proposal was rejected.
Lee argued that everything had been handed out based on the requirements.
The deadline to adopt the confirmation hearing report is approaching on Wednesday.

It has been a busy week for the ruling Democratic Party, too, Sung-jin. How have developments unfolded there?

Former DP floor leader Kim Byung-kee voluntarily withdrew from the party on Monday, one week after receiving an expulsion decision from the party’s ethics committee.

Though he had earlier called on the party leadership to expel him directly, he submitted his resignation later the same day.
Internal tensions have also been rising within the DP over plans to reintroduce a one-person, one-vote system that would give equal weight to ballots cast by party members and delegates.
Critics have argued that this system would favor the current leader, Jung Chung-rae.
Despite the backlash, the party leadership said it will proceed as planned, with a survey of party members scheduled this week and a final vote by the Central Committee set for early next month.

And what about the People Power Party? Its chairman seems to be firm on getting his message through.

Right, so the People Power Party Chairman Jang Dong-hyeok is now on the sixth day of a hunger strike calling for special prosecutors to investigate alleged Unification Church ties and nomination-related donations.
He added, through a message on social media, that the lack of response from the DP suggests that the corruption is serious enough to destabilize the administration.

Meanwhile, the PPP said it has received more than 17-thousand proposals in a public contest to rename the party.
According to a party statement, the total number of proposals adding to the ideas previously submitted by registered party members exceeded 35-thousand.
The party added that commonly recurring keywords included people, freedom, republic, and future, among others.

Sounds like an intense week at the National Assembly.
Thanks for the coverage, Sung-jin.

My pleasure as always, Dami.

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2026-01-20, 20:00 (KST)