What Is 'Forming' the National Assembly? How Korea Picks Its Speaker and Committee Chairs

ⓘ 이 글은 일반적인 정보 제공을 목적으로 하며, 전문적인 의학·법률·재무 상담을 대체하지 않습니다. 중요한 결정은 반드시 전문가와 상담하세요.

After every general election, and again when a term splits into first and second halves, Korea's National Assembly goes through 'wonguseong' (forming the chamber). In short, it is the work of building the legislature's skeleton: electing the speaker's team and deciding which party chairs each standing committee.

The Speaker's Team — One Speaker, Two Deputies

In a plenary session, members elect one speaker and two deputy speakers by secret ballot. By custom the speaker usually comes from the largest party and one deputy from the second-largest. The National Assembly Act bars the speaker from holding party membership during the term, so the speaker leaves their party right after being elected — a device meant to keep proceedings neutral.

Why Dividing the Committee Chairs Matters Most

Bills are screened first by the relevant standing committee before reaching the floor, so who chairs each committee is tied directly to legislative initiative. Chairs are usually split in proportion to each party's seats. The chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee — which makes the final check on every bill's structure and wording — is called the 'gatekeeper,' and parties fight hardest over it.

Why the Talks Often Run Late

The Act calls for electing the speaker's team within 7 days of a term beginning and the committee chairs within 3 days after that, but these deadlines are not binding. So when bargaining over the major chairs drags on, the timeline is repeatedly missed — and if talks collapse entirely, the majority party can, in principle, push the lineup through by a vote alone.

💡

In one line — wonguseong = electing the speaker's team + dividing committee chairs. Because whoever holds a chair steers how bills are screened, the fight over the Legislation and Judiciary chair in particular tends to stretch the talks out.