Lawmakers Pass Undisputed Bills, Scrap Thousands of Others, at Final Assembly Session

식물국회 오명 속 오늘 19대 마지막 본회의 Let's kick start things at Korea's National Assembly... the final plenary session of the outgoing 19th National Assembly took place today... they DID manage to pass a number of undisputed bills... but left thousands of others in the scrap heap. First, our parliamentary correspondent Ji Myung-kil on how this assembly lowered the bar. After eleventh-hour negotiations on Thursday,... Korea's three major parties passed some 135 non-contentious ious bills. Before the session ended, Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa thanked lawmakers for their hard work and dedication.... and expressed his best wishes for the incoming assembly. "I hope the lawmakers of the 20th National Assembly will fear the people -- not those in power. I also hope they will think more about the country's future than about their own re-election." However, several government-backed bills, such as the four labor reform bills and a bill to promote Korea's service industry, did not reach the floor due to the opposition's dissent. The opposition parties had been asking for revisions to a special law that would extend an investigation into the 2014 Sewol-ho ferry disaster,... but failed to reach an agreement with the ruling party. On top of that, around ten-thousand other bills have been scrapped, as they failed to receive final parliamentary approval. Therefore, the outgoing 19th National Assembly has the dubious honor of being dubbed a vegetative legislature by critics who point out that it passed a record-low number of bills. "Meanwhile, the floor leaders and deputy floor leaders of the three leading parties met to discuss how to fill the 18 parliamentary committees and remain at odds over how to divvy up the speaker positions." The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea insists one of its lawmakers be named speaker since it now has the most seats. If that happens, the ruling Saenuri Party, which has one fewer seat, wants the right to chair the powerful Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The minor opposition People's Party, which won more than 30 seats in last month's election,... is siding with the Minjoo Party on the speaker post and is vying to take one of the two co-vice speaker positions. Ji Myung-kil, Arirang News. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS): ****** Homepage: ****** Facebook: ****** Twitter: ****** Instagram: ****** ...