The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy will find a new interim leader from outside the party in the wake of the ongoing parliamentary deadlock over the special Sewol bill.

At a press conference on the party’s policies on “livelihood bills,” current emergency committee chief and floor leader Rep. Park Young-sun said that an external figure will be chosen to take the helm of the committee.

“The reason for recruiting from the outside is to contribute to the advancement of Korea’s politics and democracy, and for the NPAD to be reborn,” Park said.

“(The party) is looking for a figure who has academic knowledge of political and party reform, and who has deep understanding of real politics.”

However, it has not yet been determined if Park will step down or co-chair the committee.

Park, who has been heading the party since Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil stepped down, has been under pressure to hand over the interim chief post following two failed attempts to negotiate the Sewol bill with the ruling Saenuri Party.

The Sewol bill is intended to shed light on developments surrounding the April 16 ferry disaster, but the issue of giving investigative powers to the committee in charge of the issue has the two parties divided.

The NPAD and Sewol victims’ families believe investigative powers should be given to the committee, while the ruling party opposes the idea.

With neither side budging, the issue has held the parliament at a standstill for more than four months, and the parties have yet to hammer out the schedule for the 100-day regular session that began on Sept. 1.

As the deadlock continues, National Assembly Speaker Rep. Chung Ui-hwa has been pressuring the parties’ leaders to normalize the parliament.

“The most important than thing is the regular session. The regular session is most important period of the year with many tasks,” Chung said at a meeting with deputy speakers from the two main parties.

The speaker also requested that the two parties’ floor leaders draw up the schedule, and plans to call a conference with the floor leaders on Sept. 15 if they fail to produce results.

As for floor leaders, Saenuri Party’s Rep. Lee Wan-koo and Park, met Thursday in an attempt to narrow differences on the Sewol bill.

However, it is unclear whether any results will be forthcoming. The NPAD has linked the Sewol bill with other outstanding bills saying that none will be processed until the ferry issue is resolved, while the ruling party calls for the Sewol issue to be handled separately.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)