Parties agree to open session

Reps. Lee Wan-koo, right, and Park Young-sun, new floor leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, respectively, shake hands during their first meeting in 'Sarangjae,' a traditional Korean hanok located next to the main building of the National Assembly, Seoul, Sunday.

Appointment of special prosecutor yet to be agreed

By Jun Ji-hye

Rival parties agreed Sunday to convene an extraordinary session of the National Assembly later this month to discuss follow-up measures regarding the Sewol ferry tragedy.

Reps. Lee Wan-koo and Park Young-sun, newly elected floor leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), respectively, pledged to show bipartisanship to cope with the maritime disaster.

“Lawmakers will convene the Security and Public Administration Committee and other concerning standing committees from Monday,” said the two in a joint statement after their first one-on-one meeting.

“A plenary session to allow the convening of the National Assembly in May and June will be held within a week,” they said.

Lee and Park, who will take office Thursday, were elected floor leaders last Thursday.

Issues the rival parties will deal with include ascertaining the truth about the sinking of the passenger ship, punishments for those deemed responsible for the disaster and preemptive measures to prevent any repeat of such an incident.

The vessel, which sank in waters off Jindo on April 16 on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon, west of Seoul, to Jeju Island, claimed the lives of hundreds of people, mostly high school students who were on a school trip.

Undecided over special probe

However, the two hardliners showed some differences over details such as whether the Assembly should agree to appoint a special prosecutor and conduct a parliamentary investigation and hearings to uncover the truth of events that caused the accident to occur.

Such demands came from members of the leading opposition party.

Rep. Park, the first woman to assume a floor leader post, supported demands from her party, saying, “I believe that the two parties agreed to discuss whether to carry out a special probe and parliamentary investigation when agreeing to discuss countermeasures to tackle matters related to the ferry accident.”

Park also signaled her intention to push for the enactment of a special law to ascertain the truth behind the sinking of the ferry and support relatives of the victims, a demand from the committee representing the family members.

However, the remarks were downplayed by her ruling party counterpart, as Lee said: “Completing search-and-rescue operations and salvage work should be prioritized.”

He also cited a law to create permanent special prosecutor system approved by the National Assembly last year, saying “the law takes effect from June 19.”

As for demands for a parliamentary investigation, Lee, a noted supporter of President Park Geun-hye, said: “Reassignment of members of the National Assembly following elections of standard-bearers on the floor is the first thing to be done before discussing the Assembly probe.”

In their first joint news conference, the two also exchanged greetings. Park told Lee: “I wore a grey suit as I heard you like this color,” to which Lee replied: “Next time, I will wear clothes in your favorite color.