The National Assembly on Monday passed more than 120 bills and motions in the last plenary session of the year.

The bills include the so-called “three real estate laws” aimed at boosting the property market.

With the three real estate-related acts being approved, a flexible price ceiling will be placed on newly built housing developed by the private sector. In addition, each resident of a redeveloped area will be able to receive up to three properties.

The parties also approved the motion to launch a parliamentary investigation into the so-called “resource diplomacy.”

Although the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy had called for concentrating on the Lee Myung-bak administration’s overseas natural resource development projects which are thought to be riddled with holes, the approved motion does not specify any particular administration. As such, the probe will look into all related developments since Seoul began investing in overseas natural resources.

The probe will look into the allegations of lobbying by Korea’s diplomatic missions and state-run agencies, review the progress of audits and investigations into the government and state-run organizations’ overseas resource development projects among other issues.

In addition, the ruling Saenuri Party and the NPAD also approved the 10 individuals nominated to the special committee investigating the Sewol ferry disaster. The committee will consist of 17 individuals, 10 of whom will be named by the two main parties.

A large number of issues have been resolved, but the parties are far from done.

The rival parties still face tough negotiations over thorny issues such as the North Korean human rights bill and the so-called “Kim Young-ran bill” before the Jan. 12 plenary session.

In addition, differences over bills related to the service and medical industries, which the Saenuri Party touts as key economic and “people’s livelihood” bills, will also need to be hammered out over the next two weeks.

With party wrangling having hampered parliamentary operations throughout the year, both the ruling and main opposition parties voiced hopes for more efficiency in the coming year.

Although the parties touted passing the budget bill on time as a major achievement, the National Assembly idled for much of 2014 with the rival parties clashing over a range of issues, including the special Sewol Act, welfare budget and public sector pension reform.

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