Woo Won-sik, the Speaker of the National Assembly, reflected on his two-year tenure during a press conference on May 28, stating, "It was a good decision to lead the effort to lift the illegal martial law." However, he expressed disappointment over the failure of the constitutional reform 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 upheaval and turmoil." 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, saying, "He ignored the National Assembly," and added, "It was unrealistic, but I thought, 'This is what he intended to do' when the martial law was declared." He also confessed, "At that time, I was worried that we needed to resolve this before dawn, fearing that if the sun rose, the people might resist, leading to bloodshed."
During his term, Woo led efforts to pass the proposal 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 also pushed for the processing of the constitutional reform proposal.
Woo expressed regret over the failure of the constitutional reform initiative, stating, "I am disappointed that it did not come to fruition," but noted, "We resolved procedural obstacles, and public consensus on gradual constitutional reform has increased." He added, "I regret that we did not build barriers against the illegal martial law that I thought would never happen again, which occurred until recently."
He highlighted the passage of urgent legislation, including the Special Law on Rental Fraud, the Yellow Envelope Law, the Franchise Business Act, and the Basic Law on Life Safety, as well as laws aimed at enhancing the nation's future competitiveness, such as the Commercial Act and the Semiconductor Special Act. Woo reflected, "There were times when the process of passing legislation was quite painful, but I prioritized bipartisan agreement and chose to mediate directly rather than waiting indefinitely, and when that failed, I made decisive choices."
Addressing concerns about the neutrality of the Speaker, Woo stated, "If I had only taken the easy path amid the normalization of conflict between the parties, there would have been no progress at all. While bipartisan agreement is important, I believe the Speaker's role in the current National Assembly is to read the direction of public sentiment and find solutions."
Woo also offered advice to his successor, saying, "I pondered a lot about how to conduct myself as Speaker. I faced complaints from People Power Party members about being one-sided and received strong criticism from Democratic Party supporters. However, in those moments, one must consider whether the choices benefit the people and democracy, rather than making partisan decisions."
Following Woo's retirement, the National Assembly will temporarily operate under an acting Speaker. According to National Assembly law, the longest-serving member will assume this role. The longest-serving members in the 22nd National Assembly are Jo Jung-sik of the Democratic Party and Joo Ho-young and Jo Kyung-tae of the People Power Party. Given that Joo, born in 1960, is the oldest, he is likely to take on the acting Speaker role. Democratic Party spokesperson Lee Joo-hee also stated on May 21, "It seems that Joo will preside over the meeting for the election of the Speaker." The 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 Jo Jung-sik for Speaker and Nam In-soon (fourth term) for Deputy Speaker. The People Power Party has nominated Park Deok-heum (fourth term) for Deputy Speaker. Both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker nominations require a majority vote from the members present.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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