South Korea's National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee adjourned a full meeting on Wednesday after ruling and opposition parties clashed over the assignment of People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-sook (이진숙) to the committee at its first meeting of the second half of the parliamentary session. It also failed to handle an agenda item to appoint the People Power Party's floor leader for the committee.

Before the meeting began, committee chair Song Gi-heon (송기헌) urged lawmakers to ensure a smooth session, saying they should respect one another and clearly distinguish facts from opinions in their remarks.

But Democratic Party lawmakers raised concerns about a possible conflict of interest in Lee's assignment to the committee, triggering a partisan clash.

The Democratic Party said Lee had previously been the subject of a complaint by the committee when she served as chair of the Korea Communications Commission. It argued the conflict-of-interest issue should be examined because she could later audit the work of an agency she once led during a scheduled parliamentary audit in October. It also demanded a review at the level of the National Assembly's Ethics Advisory Committee and called for a resolution to remove her from the committee assignment.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Yeon-hee (이연희) said Lee Jin-sook was "directly involved" in multiple illegalities controversies. She said Lee's activities while at the communications regulator could become subject to the October audit.

Fellow Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Jung-a (황정아) also questioned how the public could accept a situation in which lawmakers had to work on the same committee as someone they had jointly filed a complaint against in the names of all committee members.

The People Power Party countered that the assignment was made through the National Assembly speaker's appointment process and that the committee should not arbitrarily judge Lee's eligibility.

People Power Party lawmaker Choi Hyung-doo (최형두) criticised what he called an extra-legal idea, saying that if lawmakers could file a complaint because they dislike a member of another party and then use that as grounds to exclude them from parliamentary activities, it would be beyond the law.

People Power Party lawmaker Seo Cheon-ho (서천호) also said determining whether there was a conflict of interest was not for the committee to decide. He said any problem should be judged through procedures and systems in place at the National Assembly.

Lee said she was fully qualified to serve on the committee and that it was a matter for the public to judge and for the National Assembly Act to handle. She also expressed regret over Democratic Party lawmakers' call the previous day for her reassignment to be withdrawn, saying they held a news conference as if they were bullying a student who had transferred schools.

As some lawmakers cited other lawmakers' past cases during the exchange, Song intervened, asking them to refrain as much as possible from directly naming fellow lawmakers.

With shouting and protests continuing, Song adjourned the meeting after about 1 hour. An agenda item that had been scheduled for the day to appoint the People Power Party's floor leader for the committee also failed to be approved.