Rival parties fail to put key 'Sewol' bill to parliamentary vote

Rival political parties on Thursday failed to put one of three key bills related to April's deadly ferry sinking to a parliamentary vote, unable to narrow their differences on how to deal with pending government restructuring during an annual review of budget proposals.

Last week, the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) agreed to dismantle the Coast Guard and the National Emergency Management Agency, a breakthrough reached amid criticism that the government's inadequate response to the April sinking of the ferry Sewol contributed to the death toll that surpassed 300. Also under the proposed change, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration will be renamed.

The parties said at the time they would try to put the bills to a vote in a plenary session of the National Assembly on Nov. 7.

In addition, the concerned bill is centered on creating two offices to oversee maritime security and emergency management under the supervision of a new government office to be tasked with overseeing public safety.

The National Assembly's standing committee on security and public administration convened a general meeting to put the bill to a vote Friday, but the two parties failed to agree on how to handle changes as the parliament reviews budget proposals.

If the bill passes through the National Assembly and is promulgated on schedule on Nov. 18, the government restructuring would take effect immediately, which means government agencies facing budget reviews will either be renamed or dissolved.

Rep. Jung Chung-rai of the NPAD called this prospect "a preposterous situation." He argued that the affected government offices should hand in revised budget plans, or the parties should modify the bill so that the changes will take effect after Dec. 2, the legal deadline to pass the bill on next year's budget.

The ruling party countered that submitting revised budgets wasn't feasible because the affected government agencies likely won't be able to meet the Dec. 2 deadline. The Saenuri legislators also said the proposed restructuring plans should take effect immediately because they're directly related to public safety.

The parties said they'd return to the table Friday, before the plenary session of the National Assembly opens later in the day. (Yonhap)