By Lee Tae-hoon
The 19th National Assembly opened Wednesday with little sign of political wrangling halting or a rolling up of sleeves to address pressing pending issues, such as the prolonged media strikes.
Officials of the National Assembly Secretariat admitted that the legislature is far from being ready to do its job, with many of the 300 lawmakers and their staff unprepared to undertake their duties.
“As of May 29, only 1,600 of 2,100 aides to lawmakers completed their registration at the Secretariat and a considerable number of them have yet to show up in the office to do their job,” a senior Assembly official said on condition of anonymity.