As the National Assembly's annual audit of government agencies enters its second week, a string of insults and personal attacks by lawmakers from both parties has revived debate over forming the legislature's Special Committee on Ethics. The committee has gone unformed for 29 months since the 22nd National Assembly convened, leaving the system for disciplining lawmakers effectively inoperative. Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has signaled a willingness to restore the panel, but the party's floor leadership remains cautious about how to proceed, making it unclear whether the discussion will gain momentum.
The Democratic Party is continuing talks with the People Power Party on forming the ethics committee but has made no clear progress, political sources said on the 14th. The two parties agreed in July last year to form the committee with 12 members, six each from the Democratic Party and the People Power Party, but negotiations later stalled over disagreements including how lawmakers from minor parties without negotiation-group status would participate. The Democratic Party introduced a resolution on the 1st of this month, under the name of floor leader Han Byung-do, to form the committee with 12 members split evenly between the two sides, but the parties have yet to find common ground.
The central disputes are the ratio of seats between the two parties and how minor parties would take part. Within the Democratic Party, some worry that an even split would leave the two sides deadlocked during deliberations on disciplinary motions, rendering the committee toothless. The People Power Party, for its part, opposes counting the Rebuilding Korea Party — seen as aligned with the governing bloc — toward the opposition's share, arguing it would create a decision-making structure effectively favoring the government side. Concerns that outcomes could hinge on the party affiliation of the lawmaker facing discipline are blocking an agreement.
The committee question has drawn fresh attention because disputes over lawmakers' remarks during the audit have escalated into demands for discipline and criminal complaints. Political clashes have intensified over People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-sook, who visited the graves of President Lee Jae-myung's parents and raised allegations of farmland law violations; lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu, who referred to "Owl Rock" during the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit; and lawmaker Joo Jin-woo, who posted on social media a message about "the time to cut off Lee Jae-myung."
At the judiciary committee audit in particular, Kim Tae-gyu's remarks set off a heated exchange, with Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Park Eun-jung telling him to "be a human being" and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min retorting that he "has never once been a person." Kim Yong-min later called for discipline through the formation of the ethics committee. The Democratic Party filed a criminal complaint against Joo Jin-woo with police on the 12th and is also weighing a referral to the ethics committee. Demincho, a group of first-term Democratic Party lawmakers, held a news conference on the 13th labeling Lee Jin-sook, Kim Tae-gyu and Joo Jin-woo the "three unfilial first-term siblings" and demanding they resign their seats and face discipline.
Despite the stream of disciplinary demands inside and outside the audit hearings, the committee that would review them has not even been formed. A total of 57 disciplinary motions against lawmakers have been submitted in the 22nd National Assembly, but none have been reviewed because of the committee's absence. Both parties are demanding discipline for each other's lawmakers while failing to agree on how to set up the body that would assess those motions.
With the disciplinary system unable to function, Kim Min-seok has publicly raised the need for institutional changes to restore the committee. Appearing a day earlier on "Minty 07," a program on the party's official YouTube channel Democratic Party TV, Kim said the National Assembly is "the biggest ethical lawless zone," adding that "nothing moves at all because the ethics committee is to be formed with an equal number of seats, so the worst outrageous remarks and unethical conduct go unregulated." He said he would consult the National Assembly speaker to draw up measures allowing the committee to carry out a substantive disciplinary role.
Kim also floated suspending lawmakers' legislative activities for a set period as an alternative. "If expulsion is impossible even in the very worst cases, my original idea was to suspend their eligibility to act for a certain period instead," he said. Lee Yong-woo, a Democratic Party lawmaker, introduced a bill in August to amend the National Assembly Act to bar lawmakers who violate laws related to the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement from attending, speaking at or voting in plenary and standing committee sessions for up to one year.
The Democratic Party's floor leadership, however, is cautious about the specifics, including forming the committee and amending the National Assembly Act. Lee Ju-hee, the party's floor spokesperson, told reporters on the 13th that "it is not so much that the floor leadership is intensively discussing the matter as that it is under review," adding that "we are keeping everything open and reviewing various situations, whether forming the ethics committee or amending the National Assembly Act." She also declined to say much about whether talks with the People Power Party were progressing.