Parties to operate TF to handle Sewol bill

By Jun Ji-hye

The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) agreed Tuesday to set up a joint task force (TF) team tasked with pushing a special Sewol bill through the parliament by the end of this month, along with two other pieces of legislation.

During their meeting, Reps. Lee Wan-koo and Woo Yoon-keun, the parties’ respective floor leader, agreed to meet every Tuesday for the TF meeting.

The contents of the special Sewol bill were drawn up to establish a fact-finding committee to fully investigate the man-made tragedy that killed more than 300 passengers. The bill has been stalled for months due to wrangles between the rival parties over whether to grant full investigative powers to such an entity as well as the right to indict those suspected of direct or associated involvement in events that led to the vessel’s sinking.

“We are aware that the concerns of the bereaved families are deepening. We are working hard to ease such concerns by the earliest date possible,” said Rep. Lee.

The other two bills include a proposed revision to the Government Organization Act to establish a national safety agency that President Park Geun-hye suggested in the aftermath of the ferry disaster.

The other is a proposed revision to the Act on Regulation and Punishment for Concealment of Criminal Proceeds.

This revision, known in the Korean language media as the “Yoo Byung-eun law”, is intended to enable the authorities to go after the possessions of family members of those who have accumulated wealth illegitimately. In the case of the Sewol, the government would be able to confiscate the property of families of Yoo, the deceased de facto owner of the sunken ferry, who was accused of various illegalities regarding the ferry, including unlawful extension.

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