National Assembly (South Korea)

National Assembly of the Republic of Korea 대한민국 국회 大韓民國國會 Daehan-min-guk Gukhoe
19th National Assembly
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Chung Ui-hwa, Independent [1] Since 30 May 2014
Vice Speaker	Jung Gab-yun, Saenuri Since 30 May 2014
Vice Speaker	Lee Seok-hyeon, NPAD Since 30 May 2014
Structure
Seats	300
Political groups	Government:      Saenuri (156) Opposition:      The Minjoo (107)      People's (17)      Justice (5)      Independents (13)      vacant (7)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	Parallel voting: First-past-the-post (single member constituencies) Party-list proportional representation (national lists)
Last election	11 April 2012
Meeting place
The National Assembly Building at Seoul, in September 2014. (37°31′55.21″N 126°54′50.66″E / 37.5320028°N 126.9140722°E / 37.5320028; 126.9140722)
Website
korea.na.go.kr

The National Assembly, officially the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, is the 300-member^[2] unicameral national legislature of South Korea. The latest legislative elections were held on 11 April 2012. Single-member constituencies comprise 246 of the assembly's seats, while the remaining 54 are allocated by proportional representation.^[3] Members serve four-year terms.

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 (1972–80 and 1980–87, respectively), under the Sixth Republic, the assembly cannot be dissolved by the president.

Current composition

Structure and appointment

Speaker

The constitution stipulates that the assembly is presided over by a Speaker and two Deputy Speakers,^[4] 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.^[5] The Speaker is independent of party affiliation, and the Speaker and Deputy Speakers may not simultaneously be government ministers.^[5]

Negotiation groups

Parties that hold at least 20 seats in the assembly form floor negotiation groups (Korean: 교섭단체, RR: gyoseop danche), 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.^[6]

Legislative process

To introduce a bill, a legislator must present the initiative to the Speaker with the signatures of at least ten other members of the assembly. The bill must then be edited by a committee to ensure that the bill contains correct and systematic language. It can then be approved or rejected by the Assembly.^[7]

Election

Since the promulgation of the March 1988 electoral law, the assembly has been elected every four years through a Supplementary Member system, meaning that some of the members are elected from constituencies according to the system of first past the post, while others are elected at a national level through proportional representation.^[8] As of 2012, 246 members represent constituencies, while 54 were elected from PR lists. In contrast to elections to the Assembly, presidential elections occur once every five years, and this has led to frequent situations of minority government and legislative deadlock.^[9]

Reform proposals

A proposal to lower the number of seats required to form a negotiation group to 15 was passed on 24 July 2000, but was overturned by the Constitutional Court later that month.^[10] 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.^[11]

Legislative violence

From 2004 to 2009, the assembly gained notoriety as a frequent site for legislative violence.^[12] The Assembly first came to the world's attention during a violent dispute on impeachment proceedings for then President Roh Moo-hyun,^[13][14] 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.^{[15][16][17][18]} Images of the melee were broadcast around the world.

History

South Korean National Assembly in the 1980s

South Korea
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of South Korea
Constitution
Government President (list) Park Geun-hye Prime Minister (list) Hwang Kyo-ahn Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyoung-hwan Hwang Woo-yea State Council
National Assembly Speaker Kang Chang-hee List of members
Judiciary Constitutional Court Supreme Court Chief Justice: Yang Sung-tae
Elections National Election Commission Recent elections Presidential: 2002 2007 2012 Legislative: 2008 2012 2016 Local: 2006 2010 2014 By-elections: 2011 Political parties Saenuri Minjoo Justice
Related topics Korean reunification Sunshine Policy Administrative divisions Human rights Foreign relations
Other countries Atlas Politics portal

First Republic

Elections for the assembly were held under UN supervision^[19] on 10 May 1948. The First Republic of South Korea was established on 17 July 1948^[20] 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 became bicameral and consisted of the House of Commons and the Senate, but actually unicameral with the House of Commons because the House of Commons could not pass a bill to establish the Senate.

.

Third Republic

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

Fourth Republic

Fifth Republic

Sixth Republic

      Conservative       Liberal       Progressive

      majority       lack majority       largest minority

Members

Members of the National Assembly of South Korea 1948–50 1950–54 1954–58 1958–60 1960–63 1963–67 1967–71 1971–73 1973–78 1978–81 1981–85 1985–88 1988–92 1992–96 1996–2000 2000–04 2004–08 2008–12 2012– See also Politics of South Korea Political parties in South Korea Elections in South Korea

See also

• Supreme People's Assembly, the North Korean legislature
• Politics of South Korea
• List of Korea-related topics
• National Assembly
• Senate of South Korea
• House of Commons
• List of legislatures by country

References

• U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies