PPP, DP new floor leaders meet for the first time

The new floor leaders of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and the liberal Democratic Party (DP) met for the first time since they were both elected on Monday, less than three weeks before the new National Assembly opens.

People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho, left, shakes hands with Democratic Party counterpart Park Chan-dae at the National Assembly on Monday. [NEWS1]

The new floor leaders of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and the liberal Democratic Party (DP) met for the first time since they were both elected on Monday, less than three weeks before the opening of the new National Assembly at the end of the month.

The meeting, which took place at the National Assembly in the morning, was the first of likely many to come between PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho and his DP counterpart Park Chan-dae.

Both were elected to lead their parties’ parliamentary contingents after the April 10 general election, in which the DP won a landslide majority of 175 seats against the PPP, which won only 108 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.

In his opening comments, the PPP floor leader said he has “high expectations” for cooperation with his DP counterpart because Park “has the character of a good lawmaker.” The DP floor leader reciprocated by noting that Choo is “well-known for his economic expertise.”

But signs of potential disagreement were already apparent during the pair’s talks.

Before they headed into the closed-door portion of their meeting, Park asked Choo to bring the PPP around to support the DP’s push to hand out 250,000 won ($180) to every person and establish a special counsel probe into the Defense Ministry’s handling of young Marine’s death during flood rescue operations last summer.

The PPP leader responded by saying that he had only “come to exchange greetings as counterparts,” and that discussing specific issues would only “hinder conversation.”

The two floor leaders are also expected to clash over the composition and chairmanships of several parliamentary committees, particularly the powerful House Steering Committee, which oversees the functioning of the National Assembly, and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which reviews all bills before they are presented for a vote.

Despite opposition from the PPP, the DP has expressed its desire to appoint its own lawmakers as chairs of both committees.

Meanwhile, the PPP on Sunday named four new members of its emergency leadership committee, which is expected to guide the party until a new national convention can be held to elect a permanent party chairman.

Three of the nominees — Reps. Yoo Sang-bum, Jun Joo-hyae and Eom Tae-young — are considered allies of President Yoon Suk Yeol, while one member, Kim Yong-tae, won his seat in last month’s general election.

Of the four, only Jun will not be a member of the 22nd National Assembly.

Their nominations are expected to be approved at the PPP’s national standing committee meeting on Monday.

Two-term Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig has been nominated as the party’s policy chief, which means he will automatically become a member of the party’s emergency leadership committee alongside floor leader Choo.

Former conservative party chairman Hwang Woo-yea was named as the chief of the PPP’s emergency leadership committee on April 30, after interim leader Han Dong-hoon stepped down in light of the party’s disastrous election performance.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]