The inaugural plenary session of the 22nd National Assembly in Seoul opened on Wednesday amid controversy, as the ruling People Power Party boycotted the meeting due to a disagreement with the main opposition Democratic Party over the allocation of parliamentary committee chairs. In a unilateral move, the opposition parties elected five-term lawmaker Woo Won-shik as the new National Assembly speaker, marking the first time in South Korea's constitutional history that the ruling party was absent from the opening plenary meeting. The dispute revolves around the formation of the parliamentary standing committees, particularly the allocation of chair positions for the three main committees, including the legislation and judiciary committee. The main opposition Democratic Party unilaterally conducted the vote to appoint Rep. Woo as Assembly speaker and four-term lawmaker Lee Hak-young as the vice speaker, while negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties remain deadlocked. The People Power Party has criticized the session as unconstitutional and illegal, emphasizing the lack of bipartisan agreement on the agenda. Despite efforts to bridge their differences, the two parties have yet to reach a consensus, with negotiations expected to continue until the legal deadline on Friday. The controversy stems from the Democratic Party's majority in the National Assembly following last month's general elections, which traditionally entitles them to the speaker position.