Bizarre Confrontation Draws Public Ridicule
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
A senior lawmaker called on his fellow legislators of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) to think about the consequences of their occupying the National Assembly main chamber, along with their opposition party counterparts, warning the bizarre confrontation would draw public ridicule.
``Tomorrow is Constitution Day, and I hope that we, GNP members, can behave appropriately so that our acts are not seen as a laughing stock,'' said Rep. Chung Mong-joon, a member of the party's decision-making Supreme Council.
Chung's benign warning came a day after a group of GNP and DP legislators had spent the night together Wednesday in the National Assembly main chamber to thwart their counterparts from taking the next step necessary to achieve their goals regarding the status of media-related bills.
It was the first event of its kind in history for ruling and opposition party lawmakers to occupy the main chamber together where a plenary session for voting takes place.
Their sit-ins continued Thursday, and political analysts say this could go on until July 24 when the current parliamentary session ends.
GNP lawmakers, who plan to approve the package bill sometime soon before the end of the current session, sat down on the floor to prevent the DP's possible blocking of the entrance door to the chamber.
Meanwhile, DP legislators are concerned about the GNP's possible voting on the measures after convening a plenary session unilaterally.
The DP says the two sides should reach an agreement on the bills first because the measures will have a far-reaching impact on the overall media industry.
The GNP submitted the bills, which will allow chaebol and newspapers to own up to 20-percent stakes in broadcast companies or to establish news channels in collaboration with other businesses.
Rep. Na Kyung-won of the GNP said the measures would help create about 25,000 new jobs in the media industry.
The DP came up with its version of media bills, as well, which call for banning large businesses and print media firms from owning stakes in television companies that provide news programs.
But the DP says these two actors can own stakes in cable network channels that do not air news programs.
Rep. Jun Byung-hun of the DP said pro-GNP news coverage will overflow if chaebol and certain newspapers, which he called two core allies of the ruling party, are allowed to own news channels.
Jun also dismissed the job creation effect cited by GNP lawmakers, emphasizing that the television industry has grown quickly over the past decade and its market has expanded but there was no job growth.
The GNP said it would go ahead with voting, while the DP insisted the ruling party needed to make more efforts over an agreement.
Both sides took the next step to achieve their goals.
The GNP demanded Speaker Kim Hyong-o use his authority to table the bill at the plenary session for a vote. But Kim gave no clear-cut answer.
Another possibility for the GNP is to pass the bills in the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee by using its advantage of majority seats.
The problem with this is that if the committee approves them, the bills will be sent to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by DP lawmaker Lee Seon-ho. If the committee doesn't deliberate the measures, they won't be sent to the plenary session.