Woo Won-sik, the Speaker of the National Assembly, reflected on his two-year tenure during a retirement press conference on May 28, stating, "It was a commendable achievement to take the lead in lifting the illegal martial law." However, he expressed disappointment over the failure of the constitutional amendment proposal due to opposition from the People Power Party.
During the press conference held at the National Assembly, Woo remarked, "I feel like I was in the midst of turmoil and upheaval." He was elected as the Speaker of the 22nd National Assembly in 2024 and is set to conclude his term on May 29.
Recalling the martial law period, Woo criticized former President Yoon Suk Yeol, stating, "He ignored the National Assembly," and added, "When the martial law was declared, it seemed unrealistic, but I thought, 'So this is what he intended to do.'" He also confessed, "At that time, I was worried that we needed to resolve this before dawn; if the sun rose, the people might resist, leading to bloodshed."
During his term, Woo led efforts to pass the resolution to lift the December 3 martial law, the impeachment motion against former President Yoon, and the establishment of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency as part of judicial reform. Recently, he had pushed for the processing of the constitutional amendment proposal.
Regarding the failure of the constitutional amendment, Woo said, "I am disappointed that it did not come to fruition," but noted, "We have resolved procedural obstacles, and public consensus on gradual constitutional reform has increased." He added, "I regret that we could not build barriers against the illegal martial law that I thought would never happen again, which occurred until recently."
He also highlighted the passage of urgent legislation, including the Special Law on Rental Fraud, the Yellow Envelope Act, the Franchise Business Act, and the Basic Law on Life Safety, as well as laws aimed at enhancing the country's future competitiveness, such as the Commercial Act and the Special Semiconductor Act. He reflected, "There were significant challenges in the legislative process, but I prioritized bipartisan agreement and took direct mediation rather than waiting indefinitely, and when that failed, I made decisive choices."
Addressing concerns about the neutrality of the Speaker's role, Woo stated, "If I had only taken the easy path in a situation where conflicts between the parties have become routine, there would have been no progress at all. While bipartisan agreement is important, I believe the Speaker's role is to read the public sentiment and find solutions in the current National Assembly."
Woo also offered advice to his successor, saying, "I have thought a lot about how to conduct myself as Speaker of the National Assembly." He noted that while People Power Party members protested that he was one-sided, he faced strong criticism from supporters of the Democratic Party. He emphasized that in such moments, one must consider whether the decision benefits the people and democracy rather than making partisan choices.
With Woo's retirement, the National Assembly will temporarily operate under an acting speaker. According to the National Assembly Act, the longest-serving and oldest member typically assumes this role. The longest-serving members of the 22nd National Assembly are six-term lawmakers Cho Jeong-sik from the Democratic Party and Joo Ho-young and Jo Kyung-tae from the People Power Party. Among them, Joo, born in 1960, is likely to take on the role of acting speaker. Democratic Party spokesperson Lee Joo-hee also stated on May 21 that Joo is expected to preside over the plenary session for the election of the new speaker. The ruling and opposition parties plan to hold a vote on June 5 to establish the leadership for the second half of the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has nominated Cho as its candidate for Speaker and Nam In-soon (a four-term lawmaker) for Deputy Speaker. The People Power Party has selected Park Deok-heum (also a four-term lawmaker) as its candidate for Deputy Speaker. Both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker positions require a majority vote from the members of the National Assembly.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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