Rival parties move fast to normalize parliament on N.K. leader’s sudden death


Facing the political follow-up to the sudden death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, rival political parties on Tuesday agreed to handle next year’s state budget plan next week.

The floor leaders of the ruling Grand National Party and the new main opposition Democratic Unified Party agreed Tuesday afternoon to hold a provisional session on Wednesday and pass next year’s budget bill by next Friday.

The two also met on Monday afternoon, just after North Korea announced the breaking news, to agree that a special session should be summoned in order to discuss Kim’s death and other impending political issues, including the cyber attack investigation on the state electoral organization.

“We decided to fully reactivate the assembly, starting with the budget committee,” said the DUP floor leader Rep. Kim Jin-pyo after the party’s general meeting.

His GNP counterpart Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, too, pledged not to further hinder parliamentary operations with inter-party disputes.

“Amid such political insecurity, the parliament is to pay extra attention to its legislative and budget-reviewing duties in order to stabilize the public sentiment,” said Hwang.

Since the ruling party forcefully passed the disputed Korea-U.S. free trade bill earlier this month, the liberal camp has boycotted parliamentary activities, demanding that the GNP and the government apologize and renegotiate the pact.

At the request of parliamentary speaker Park Hee-tae on Monday, the foreign affairs, national defense and information committees consecutively held urgent meetings, ending their long standstill.

However, as the political arena swiftly shifted its focus to national security and inter-Korea relations, other ongoing issues were consequently pushed aside.

The GNP recently suggested to the DUP the formation of an individual counsel system to investigate the DDoS cyber attack on the National Election Commission webpage during the Seoul mayoral by-election in October.

The left-wing is expected to approve the idea, as it has so far called for a thorough and objective probe into the election irregularity initiated by a GNP lawmaker’s aide.

The right-wing party’s move is seen as a bold gesture to take the bull by the horns and shake off the ever-growing scandal.

The process has, however, been slowed down in the aftermath of Kim Jong-il’s death, by inter-party disputes over whether or not to send a delegation to pay a condolence call to the communist state.

Also, the DUP organized a special investigation committee on Monday morning to examine allegations against President Lee Myung-bak’s family and close aides, including the president’s elder brother Rep. Lee Sang-deuk.

The committee’s schedule nevertheless fizzled out in less than an hour, as the North Korean state broadcaster announced the news of Kim’s death at noon.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)