Cho Jung-sik, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, who was elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly for the second half of the 22nd term, delivers an acceptance speech at the '1st Plenary Session of the 436th National Assembly (Extraordinary Session)' held at the National Assembly on the 5th. [Yonhap News]

A request for a parliamentary investigation into the ballot shortage incident during the June 3 local elections was reported to the National Assembly plenary session on the 11th.

Kim Seung-mook, Secretary-General of the National Assembly, reported at the plenary session that the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party had each submitted parliamentary investigation requests to the National Assembly under the names of all their members.

A parliamentary investigation is conducted through procedures such as reporting to the plenary session, drafting a plan for the investigation, and approval by the plenary session.

Accordingly, the ruling and opposition parties are expected to begin full-fledged negotiations on the detailed plan for the parliamentary investigation after the report was presented today.

While the ruling and opposition parties agree on the need to uncover the truth of the incident, their opinions differ on the composition of the chairperson and members of the special committee for the parliamentary investigation, as well as the agencies to be investigated.

In particular, regarding the allocation of committee members, the Democratic Party is advocating for distribution according to the ratio of seats, while the People Power Party is arguing for an equal composition of ruling and opposition parties.

Furthermore, a clash is anticipated over whether to pursue a parliamentary investigation and a special prosecutor simultaneously.

The Democratic Party is of the stance that the introduction of a special prosecutor should be considered based on the investigation by the parliamentary investigation and the joint investigation headquarters of the prosecution and police, while the People Power Party insists that a special prosecutor should also be initiated together.

However, given the considerable public outrage over the incident, there are also expectations that the ruling and opposition parties may reach a compromise relatively quickly through a certain degree of "give and take."

Han Byung-do, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated at a policy coordination meeting today, "We will set the next plenary session schedule after today to adopt the parliamentary investigation plan and immediately launch the special committee for the parliamentary investigation," and urged, "We urge the People Power Party to stop attempting to strategically exploit a grave national issue."

The Democratic Party aims to have the parliamentary investigation plan approved at the plenary session on the 18th.

In contrast, Jung Jin-suk, the floor leader of the People Power Party, stated at a supreme council meeting, "For a thorough investigation into the truth, a parliamentary investigation led by the People Power Party should be conducted, with the opposition party taking the chairperson role and members being composed equally by the ruling and opposition parties," and urged, "We hope the government and the ruling party will abandon the ploy of a joint investigation headquarters and accept a special prosecutor."

National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik said at the plenary session, "This incident is a serious situation that has undermined the basic rights of the people and shaken the foundation of trust in election administration, which is the cornerstone of procedural democracy," and expressed his hope, "Through a parliamentary investigation, I hope we can accurately diagnose the problems of the current election management system and establish an election system that the people can trust by preparing measures to improve election management as a whole."

Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties also passed the establishment of a special committee on the climate crisis at the plenary session today.

As a result, the special committee, which was dissolved at the end of the first half of the 22nd term National Assembly, will continue its activities in the second half of the term.