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| National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang speaks during his interview with reporters who accompanied him on his overseas trip in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday. Moon took a nine-day trip to Serbia, Azerbaijan and Georgia from Oct. 13 to 21. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang said Monday he would exercise his authority to submit judiciary reform bills during the Assembly's plenary session, if the ruling and opposition parties fail to reach an agreement.
"I cannot remain idle though. But I won't seek to breach the spirit of mutual agreement among the opposing parties but to urge them to reach an agreement," he told reporters while visiting Tbilisi, Georgia.
The speaker said he might propose a package settlement to the major parties to seek an overall agreement on different bills including the judiciary reform bills, the electoral reform bills and the budget.
The issue of the judiciary reform bills is the main agenda item pending at the Assembly. After President Moon accepted an offer of resignation from former Justice Minister Cho Kuk over his alleged involvement in various financial crimes, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Cheong Wa Dae are pushing ahead with the judiciary reform bills saying they will facilitate the reform of the prosecution.
The leaders of the three main parties ― Rep. Lee In-young of the DPK, Rep. Na Kyung-won of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and Rep. Oh Shin-hwan of the Bareunmirae Party (BMP) ― met later that day at the Assembly over the issue, but they failed to reach a consensus over whether or not to pass the bills.
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| Three political party floor leaders ― Rep. Lee In-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, right, Rep. Na Kyung-won of the Liberty Korea Party, center, and Rep. Oh Shin-hwan of the Bareunmirae Party ― hold a meeting at the National Assembly, Monday, to discuss how to deal with judiciary reform bills. Yonhap |
The judiciary reform bills were fast-tracked on April 30 together with electoral reform bills at an agreement among the DPK and three minor opposition parties including the BMP, the Justice Party and the Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP). The LKP opposed the bills which included establishing a special unit to investigate corruption allegations against high-ranking officials or their families as well as enhancing the police's investigative authority by giving them the right to close a case so that they could prevent prosecutors from abusing their power.
The DPK's attempt to submit the judiciary reform bills to the plenary session is likely to fail, political analysts said, as the April agreement among the four parties except the LKP said the electoral reform bills would be submitted to the plenary session before the judiciary reform bills. The electoral reform bills have been passed from the Assembly's special committee for political reform to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee as of Aug. 29, and must be submitted to the plenary session within 90 days of that date.
BMP leader Sohn Hak-kyu denounced the DPK's attempt to submit the judiciary reform bills to the plenary session before the electoral bills, saying the Moon administration should refrain from such "self-righteousness," during a meeting for the BMP's supreme council at the Assembly, Oct. 18.
