National Assembly crippled, leaving pending bills behind

Rival parties blamed each other Wednesday for failing to narrow the differences to normalize the National Assembly after marathon negotiations the day before.

The main sticking point is the demand by the opposition for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea to accept a special counsel probe into an opinion rigging scandal involving an online blogger who is allegedly linked to the ruling party’s lawmaker.

The National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun had set Tuesday as the deadline for negotiations, and hinted that he may not open any plenary session for May if they do not meet the deadline. 

The continued standoff has made the prospects dark for pending legislatures, especially the extra budget bill of 4 trillion won ($3.7 billion), which the government submitted to the parliament on April 6. Not a single plenary session has been held at the National Assembly since April due to the on-going standoff.

On Tuesday, each party held overnight meetings aimed at reaching a last minute settlement, but failed to reach a conclusion.

Rep. Choo Mi-ae, Chairwoman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said on Wednesday that the “Druking” scandal is barely near the depth of rigging scandals by rival parties, and that the opposition parties are deliberately taking issue with the scandal.

“(The Druking scandal) is not speaking of conducting a special counsel probe. If they seek such investigation, the goal should be set on improving the system for clean democracy on the internet,” Rep. Choo said in a party meeting.

In early March, the Druking scandal broke, involving a power blogger nicknamed Druking who is alleged to have masterminded an illegal online opinion rigging campaign. Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo of the ruling Democratic Party, a close aide of President Moon Jae-in, has been accused of having ties to the blogger.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party that has been demanding for an immediate special counsel probe, criticized the ruling party as being double-sided. The ruling Democratic Party had said it would vote for the investigation bill, but only when the opposition parties also pass the pending extra budget bill. It also added that the bills should be passed at the same time, during the regular plenary session that was planned on May 24.

Rep. Kim Sung-tae, the floor leader of the main opposition continued his hunger strike in a makeshift tent in front of the National Assembly on Wednesday, calling on the ruling party to immediately accept the special counsel probe. Kim, 61, began fasting on May 3, and on Wednesday afternoon refused to go to the hospital to treat his medical conditions, including a fever.

“The Democratic Party says to the public that it will accept the probe, but behind the scenes, they are saying they cannot accept it if we do not meet their conditions,” spokesman Choung Tae-ok of the conservative faction said in a statement on Wednesday.

Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a co-chairman of center-right Bareunmirae Party, attacked the ruling party Wednesday, saying the special counsel probe should also be conducted on the liberal President Moon.

“The crux of the Druking Gate is that a close aide to Moon and the ruling Democratic Party has infringed the basic value and order of democracy,” Yoo said.

With the one-year term as floor leader ending for Rep. Woo Won-shik of the ruling party on Friday, further negotiations will likely be delayed as the party will have to choose a new leadership.

Speaker Chung expressed regret and apology late Tuesday over the standoff and said he has canceled all his overseas engagements in Canada and Mexico.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)