By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) will drop lawsuits it filed against a few lawmakers of the main opposition party in an attempt to build a good working relationship at the National Assembly, the GNP leader said Thursday.
GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup made public the decision after his party suffered a crushing defeat in Wednesday's local by-elections, and the three opposition parties boycotted the opening of the new National Assembly.
The largest opposition, the United Democratic Party (UDP) and two other parties refused to attend the opening, reiterating their demand that the government renegotiate a beef import deal with the United States.
The GNP filed lawsuits against several UDP lawmakers, including Rep. Park Young-sun, and former legislator Chung Bong-ju for their alleged spreading of false information about then GNP presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak.
The UDP lawmakers claimed that Lee was involved in a financial scam conceived by his former business partner Kim Kyung-joon.
The GNP took legal action against them to protect its presidential candidate and demonstrate that Lee had nothing to do with the case.
Kang said that GNP leaders decided to drop the suits to seek reconciliation with the UDP.
He called upon the opposition parties to return to the parliament so that they can open the new legislature together. The Assembly's four-year term began May 30.
Analysts said the governing party chose a strategy of working together with the opposition as it realized the party alone would not be able to make progress in resolving the stalemate over the beef dispute without its help.
GNP floor leader Hong Joon-pyo said a few hardliners inside the UDP took advantage of the legal disputes in making their case that the governing party did not consider the main opposition as a partner.
``The legal disputes also hindered the UDP as well as other opposition parties from seeking collaboration in parliamentary affairs. As the civil and criminal cases have become a stumbling block in facilitating the parliamentary process, we agreed that we should give them up,'' said Hong.
Hong said his party will work closely with the opposition in passing a resolution urging the government to hold renegotiations with the U.S. government over the beef import deal. ``Now, it is the UDP's turn,'' he said.