 |
| Members of a consultative body created by the country's two major parties hold its first meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday, to review details of the ruling party's contentious revision bill to penalize publishers of alleged "fake news." Joint Press Corps |
By Jung Da-min
A consultative body created by the country's two major parties held its first meeting, Wednesday, to discuss details of the ruling party's contentious revision bill to penalize publishers of alleged "fake news."
The likelihood of the body reaching an agreement, however, appears slim as the participants have clearly different opinions on the issue. Wide speculation is that they will end up with no results and the clash between the parties will resume ahead of the planned National Assembly plenary vote on the bill on Sept. 27.
The eight-member consultative body is comprised of four lawmakers, two each from the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), and four media experts, two recommended by each party.
The DPK and the PPP agreed to form the consultative body, Aug. 31, after rounds of discussions over the bill between the parties fell apart. The DPK had initially planned to railroad the legislative process of the bill using its super majority in the National Assembly, but faced strong backlash from opposition parties as well as civic and media organizations here and around the world advocating freedom of expression.
While the two parties agreed to operate the body until Sept. 26, a day before the scheduled plenary session, the eight members of the consultative body are not likely to reach an agreement over the bill by the deadline, considering that the parties put forward members who have been strongly voicing the views of their respective parties.
The two experts representing the PPP side are Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Law School professor Moon Jae-wan and Shin Hee-seok, a legal analyst with the Transitional Justice Working Group, a Seoul-based organization advocating human rights.
Shin sent a letter to the Office of the United National High Commissioner for Human Rights last month to raise issue with the DPK bill. In response, Irene Khan, a U.N. special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression, delivered an open letter to the South Korean government late last month, in which she said the bill could severely restrict the rights to freedom of information and of expression of the media.
Representing the DPK side are Song Hyun-joo, a media professor at Hallym University who has publicly expressed support for the DPK's bill in his recent columns, and Kim Pil-sung, a lawyer at local law firm Garosu who is known for defending Chung Kyung-sim, wife of scandal-plagued former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, over her document fabrication to help her daughter gain admission to a local medical school.
While the two sides still remain at odds over the bill, discussions are unlikely to yield an agreement by the deadline, and clashes between the parties are expected to resume at the Assembly. The DPK has said it will put the bill to a vote at the Sept. 27 plenary session regardless of the outcome of the discussions, whereas the PPP has said the bill should not be passed if the consultative body fails to reach an agreement.
![[INTERVIEW] Yoo Ah-in on his portrayal of cult leader in 'Hellbound'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/e124eb2f1fcb431889c0a8cf674b3107.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
