National Assembly (South Korea) Explained

National Assembly of the
Republic of Korea
Transcription Name:Daehanminguk Gukhoe
Legislature:22nd National Assembly
Coa Pic:Emblem of the National Assembly of Korea.svg
Logo Pic:Communication logo of the National Assembly of Korea.svg
House Type:Unicameral
Leader1 Type:Speaker
Leader1:Woo Won-shik
Party1:Independent
Leader2 Type:Deputy Speaker
Leader2:Lee Hak-young
Party2:Democratic
Leader3 Type:Deputy Speaker
Leader3:Joo Ho-young
Party3:People power
Members:300
Structure1:22nd South Korea National Assembly.svg
Structure1 Res:250px
Political Groups1:Government (108)

Opposition (192)

Voting System1:Additional-member system
Last Election1:10 April 2024
Next Election1:April 2028
Session Room:Main conference room of South korean national assembly building.JPG
Session Res:270px
Term Length:4 years
Salary:US$128,610
Meeting Place:Main Conference Room
National Assembly Building, Seoul
37.532°N 126.9141°W

The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, often shortened to the National Assembly, is the unicameral national legislature of South Korea.[1] Elections to the National Assembly are held every four years. The latest legislative elections was held on 10 April 2024. The current National Assembly held its first meeting, and also began its current four year term, on 30 May 2024.[2] [3] The next Speaker was elected 5 June 2024.[4] [5] The National Assembly has 300 seats, with 253 constituency seats and 47 proportional representation seats; 30 of the PR seats are assigned an additional member system, while 17 PR seats use the parallel voting method.

The unicameral assembly consists of at least 200 members according to the South Korean constitution. In 1990 the assembly had 299 seats, 224 of which were directly elected from single-member districts in the general elections of April 1988. Under applicable laws, the remaining seventy-five representatives were elected from party lists. By law, candidates for election to the assembly must be at least thirty years of age. As part of a political compromise in 1987, an earlier requirement that candidates have at least five years' continuous residency in the country was dropped to allow Kim Dae-jung, who had spent several years in exile in Japan and the United States during the 1980s, to return to political life. The National Assembly's term is four years. In a change from the more authoritarian Fourth Republic and Fifth Republic (1972–81 and 1981–87, respectively), under the Sixth Republic, the assembly cannot be dissolved by the president.

Building

See main article: Korea National Assembly Proceeding Hall. The main building in Yeouido, Seoul, is a stone structure with seven stories above ground and one story below ground. The building has 24 columns, which means the legislature's promise to listen to people 24/7 throughout the year.[6]

Structure and appointment

Speaker

See main article: Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea. The constitution stipulates that the assembly is presided over by a Speaker and two Deputy Speakers,[7] who are responsible for expediting the legislative process. The Speaker and Deputy Speakers are elected in a secret ballot by the members of the Assembly, and their term in office is restricted to two years.[8] The Speaker is independent of party affiliation, and the Speaker and Deputy Speakers may not simultaneously be government ministers.

Negotiation groups

Parties that hold at least 20 seats in the assembly form floor negotiation groups (Korean: 교섭단체, Hanja: 交涉團體, RR:), which are entitled to a variety of rights that are denied to smaller parties. These include a greater amount of state funding and participation in the leaders' summits that determine the assembly's legislative agenda.[9]

In order to meet the quorum, the United Liberal Democrats, who then held 17 seats, arranged to "rent" three legislators from the Millennium Democratic Party. The legislators returned to the MDP after the collapse of the ULD-MDP coalition in September 2001.[10]

Legislative process

See also: Legislative elections in South Korea.

For a legislator to introduce a bill, they must submit the proposal to the Speaker, accompanied by the signatures of at least ten other assembly members. A committee must then review the bill to verify that it employs precise and orderly language. Following this, the Assembly may either approve or reject the bill.[11]

Committees

There are 17 standing committees which examine bills and petitions falling under their respective jurisdictions, and perform other duties as prescribed by relevant laws.[12]

Election

See also: Legislative elections in South Korea.

The National Assembly has 300 seats, with 254 constituency seats under FPTP and 46 proportional representation seats. With electoral reform taken in 2019, the PR seats apportionment method was replaced by a variation of additional member system from the previous parallel voting system. However, 17 seats were temporarily assigned under parallel voting in the 2020 South Korean legislative election.[13]

Per Article 189 of Public Official Election Act,[14] [15] the PR seats are awarded to parties that have either obtained at least 3% of the total valid votes in the legislative election or at least five constituency seats. The number of seats allocated to each eligible party is decided by the formula:

n_\text = \left\lfloor \frac\right\rfloor

where

If the integer is less than 1, then is set to 0 and the party does not get any seats. Then the sum of initially allocated seats is compared to the total seats for the additional member system and recalculated.

n_\text = \left(n_\text-\sum n_\text\right) \times \text

n_\text =\beginn_\text+n_\text, & \text\sum n_\text < n_\text \\n_\text \times \dfrac, & \text\sum n_\text > n_\text\end

Final seats are assigned through the largest remainder method, and if the remainder is equal, the winner is determined by lottery among the relevant political parties.

The voting age was also lowered from 19 to 18 years old, expanding the electorate by over half a million voters.[16]

Legislative violence

From 2004 to 2009, the assembly gained notoriety as a frequent site for legislative violence.[17] The Assembly first came to the world's attention during a violent dispute on impeachment proceedings for then President Roh Moo-hyun,[18] [19] when open physical combat took place in the assembly. Since then, it has been interrupted by periodic conflagrations, piquing the world's curiosity once again in 2009 when members battled each other with sledgehammers and fire extinguishers. The National Assembly since then has taken preventive measures to prevent any more legislative violence.[20] [21] [22]

Historical composition

- - -
ElectionTotal
seats
Composition
1st
(1948)
200
298511111111111261255
2nd
(1950)
210
224126111133101424
3rd
(1954)
203
1567133114
4th
(1958)
233
79261127
5th
(1960)
233
4117549112
6th
(1963)
175
401429110
7th
(1967)
175
145129
8th
(1971)
204
1891113
9th
(1973)
219
25219146
10th
(1978)
231
36122145
11th
(1981)
276
28121111225151
12th
(1985)
276
167351420148
13th
(1988)
299
17059935125
14th
(1992)
299
9721131149
15th
(1996)
299
79151650139
16th
(2000)
273
11517512133
17th
(2004)
299
101529214121
18th
(2008)
299
5813251815314
19th
(2012)
300
1312735152
20th
(2016)
300
6 1231138122
21st
(2020)
300
6 318053103
22nd
(2024)
300
11217513108

History

First Republic

See also: First Republic of Korea. Elections for the assembly were held under UN supervision[23] on 10 May 1948. The First Republic of Korea was established on 17 July 1948[24] when the constitution of the First Republic was established by the Assembly. The Assembly also had the job of electing the president and elected anti-communist Syngman Rhee as president on 10 May 1948.

Under the first constitution, the National Assembly was unicameral. Under the second and third constitutions, the National Assembly was to be bicameral and consist of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, but in practice, the legislature was unicameral because the House of Representatives was prevented from passing the law necessary to establish the House of Councillors.

National
Assembly
Majority
Party
Majority
Leader
SeatsSpeakerSeatsMinority
Leaders
Minority
Parties
1st
 NARRKINA5529KDPDNP 
116others
2nd
DNP2424KNP
14NA
148others
3rd
 LP11415DNPDP (55)
3NA
3KNP
68others
4th
LP12679DP (55)
28others

Second Republic

See also: Second Republic of Korea.

Third Republic

See also: Third Republic of Korea.

Since the reopening of the National Assembly in 1963 until today, it has been unicameral.

National
Assembly
Majority
Party
Majority
Leader
SeatsSpeakerSeatsMinority
Leaders
Minority
Parties
6th
 DRP11041CRP→DRPNDP 
13DP (55)DRPNDP
7th
DRP12945NDP
8th
 DRP11389NDP

Fourth Republic

See also: Fourth Republic of Korea.

National
Assembly
Majority
Party
Majority
Leader
SeatsSpeakerSeatsMinority
Leaders
Minority
Parties
9th
 DRP+Presidential appointees14652NDP 
10th
DRP+Presidential appointees

KNP
14561NDP

Fifth Republic

See also: Fifth Republic of Korea.

National
Assembly
Majority
Party
Majority
Leader
SeatsSpeakerSeatsMinority
Leaders
Minority
Parties
11th
 DJP15181DKP 
25KNP
12th
DJP14867NKDP
35DKP
20KNP

Sixth Republic

Term
(Election)
Speaker
13th (1988)12570-36599
14th (1992)14997--3121
15th (1996)13979-65-16
16th (2000)133115-20-5
17th (2004)12115210493
18th (2008)15381532325
19th (2012)Kang Chang-hee
Chung Ui-hwa
152127135-3
20th (2016)Chung Sye-kyun
Moon Hee-sang
1221236-3811
21st (2020)1031806335
22nd (2024)10817133150

Members

See main article: List of members of the National Assembly (South Korea).

Television broadcast

See main article: National Assembly TV.

See also

Notes

  1. Article 21, Clause 1 of the Election Law
  2. News: 1st meeting of 22nd parliament's DP lawmakers. Yonhap. 30 May 2024. 2 June 2024.
  3. News: National Assembly begins new 4-year term. Yi. Wonju. Yonhap. 30 May 2024. 4 June 2024.
  4. News: DP's Woo Won-shik Elected as Speaker of 22nd National Assembly amid PPP Boycott . 5 June 2024. 5 June 2024 .
  5. News: 22nd Assembly begins new 4-year term. Lee. Jung-joo. The Korea Herald. 30 May 2024. 2 June 2024.
  6. Web site: HISTORY & HERITAGE . The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.
  7. Article 48 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.
  8. Book: Park, Young-Do . Einführung in das koreanische Recht . German . Introduction to Korean Law . Springer . 2010 . 25 . Kapitel 2: Verfassungsrecht . 9783642116032.
  9. Youngmi Kim (2011). The Politics of Coalition in South Korea. Taylor & Francis, p. 65.
  10. Y. Kim, pp. 68 - 9.
  11. Park 2010, p. 27.
  12. Web site: Standing Committees and Special Committees of the National Assembly . National Assembly. Korean.
  13. Web site: 김 . 광태 . 23 December 2019 . (2nd LD) Opposition party launches filibuster against electoral reform bill . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200103055524/https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20191223004552315 . 3 January 2020 . 3 January 2020 . Yonhap News Agency.
  14. Web site: 국가법령정보센터 . 2023-01-26 . www.law.go.kr.
  15. Web site: 국가법령정보센터 . 2023-01-26 . www.law.go.kr.
  16. News: 18-year-olds Hit the Polls for First Time in S. Korea . 19 April 2020 . Korea Bizwire . 15 April 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200419050202/http://koreabizwire.com/18-year-olds-hit-the-polls-for-first-time-in-s-korea/157765 . 19 April 2020 . live .
  17. Web site: The World's Most Unruly Parliaments. 16 September 2009 .
  18. News: South Korean president impeached. 12 March 2004. news.bbc.co.uk.
  19. News: In pictures: Impeachment battle. 12 March 2004. news.bbc.co.uk.
  20. Web site: South Korea lawmakers: Reaching across the aisle with a sledgehammer. By John M.. Glionna. Los Angeles Times. 28 January 2009.
  21. Web site: South Korean politicians use fire extinguishers against opposition. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/southkorea/3832972/South-Korean-politicians-use-fire-extinguishers-against-opposition.html . 12 January 2022 . subscription . live. 18 December 2008. www.telegraph.co.uk.
  22. Web site: Hall of Violence. 2 March 2009.
  23. http://korea50.army.mil/history/factsheets/overview.shtml Setting the Stage
  24. http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/ks__indx.html ICL – South Korea Index

References