By Jun Ji-hye
The ruling and opposition parties agreed Sunday to work closely together to overcome the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) epidemic at the earliest possible date.
They decided to establish a joint committee for the task.
Eight senior lawmakers from both sides also decided to give top priority to a legislative effort to help fight the MERS outbreak.
The National Assembly’s extraordinary session begins today.
Ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung and his main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) counterpart Rep. Moon Jae-in led the meeting.
The lawmakers called on the government to establish comprehensive countermeasures through close consultation with local governments, education offices and private experts.
“The government must provide necessary information to the public in a prompt manner and share such information with local governments,” they said in a statement.
The lawmakers also urged the government to consider upgrading the MERS alert level from “watch” to “warning.”
The bills will seek to step up quarantine measures to control an outbreak of infectious diseases, improve response manuals and support victims, they said.
The National Assembly plans to secure the 2016 budget to build a public hospital to treat and cure infectious cases, and set up measures to support vulnerable districts including Pyeongtaek, to which most of the confirmed MERS cases have been linked.
“I am satisfied with the agreement,” Rep. Kim told reporters after the meeting. “I believe that it was proper for the government to make public the names of hospitals.”
For his part, Rep. Moon said the government should have disclosed such information sooner.
“Besides the names of hospitals, the government needs to reveal all information including track of patients’ movement.”
After the meeting, NPAD floor leader Rep. Lee Jong-kul made a separate visit to the City Hall of Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, where he checked on situations and met with citizens to mull ways of settling the state of affairs and supporting damage of victims and the city.
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