South Korea’s two main parties clashed over the timing of a legal change to overhaul the structure of government, failing to pass the bill in the parliamentary Security and Public Administration Committee.

With the main opposition raising concerns about the effect the planned changes will have on the 2015 budget review, the committee will resume talks on Friday.

The revision of the Government Organization Act is one of the three Sewol bills that stem from the April 16 ferry disaster. The bill will restructure state agencies to strengthen and streamline the government’s response to disasters and safety issues.

Under the planned changes, a number of large government organizations will be restructured and two lower level ministries will be formed. Although the two main parties have agreed on the changes, the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has raised concerns that if the revision is approved, government agencies that have been allocated funds in next year’s budget would disband even before lawmakers finish reviewing the budget bill for 2015. 

The revision states that the changes will take effect as soon as the revised bill is approved by the parliament.

Rep. Jung Cheong-rae, an NPAD lawmaker on the Security and Public Administration Committee, claimed that unless the time at which the changes take effect is delayed, a significant part of the 2015 budget could not be properly assessed.

According to Jung, the budget allocated to organizations affected by the revision accounts for 16.5 percent of the annual budget.

“Such a forced Government Organization Act revision is an action that makes the National Assembly into a legislation-passing body, and violates the parliament’s power to review the budget,” Jung said.

The NPAD has suggested that the revision take effect once next year’s budget plans have been approved by the National Assembly.

The ruling party, however, argues that a deputy minister for the new safety ministry can be appointed ahead of time to attend processes regarding the budget.

The other two are the special Sewol bill and the so-called Yoo Byung-eun act, which will give the authorities more power in confiscating assets gained by criminal or otherwise illegal activities.

The two bills have been approved by the concerned parliamentary committees and are scheduled to be passed into law in Friday’s plenary session.

Under the plans, the changes will take effect as soon as the revised Government Organization Act goes into force.

The revision will see the establishment of a new ministry that specializes in safety issues. The new ministry will take over maritime traffic-related functions of the Oceans Ministry, and will oversee the Coast Guard and the National Emergency Management Agency’s roles. In addition, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration’s safety and disaster-related functions will also be transferred to the new body.

The Ministry of Security and Public Administration will be turned into a ministry for public administration, and a new sublevel ministry will be set up to deal with government personnel. Along with these functions, the new ministry will also take over the budget allocated to the affected organizations.

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