| National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik (left) holds his forehead while speaking with floor leaders of the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party during a plenary session at the Assembly in Seoul on Thursday, as tensions flared over the ruling party’s push for a government reorganization bill. The clash followed a disputed fast-track vote on the Democratic Meritorious Persons Act, where 257 ballots were counted despite only 256 lawmakers present. The main opposition party demanded a revote, but Woo rejected the request. (Yonhap) |
South Korea's two main parties clashed Thursday as the ruling Democratic Party of Korea introduced a bill to split up the prosecution and strip the Finance Ministry of its budget-planning authority, after last-minute talks with the main opposition People Power Party collapsed.
The revision to the Government Organization Act includes abolishing the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and splitting its authority into two agencies — one for investigations and another for indictments, as well as separating the budget office from the Finance Ministry.
The Democratic Party said earlier in the day that it would drop its plan to overhaul the top financial regulator, leaving the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service unchanged. But the parties still failed to reach an agreement.
As soon as the bill was introduced, the People Power Party began a filibuster against all reform bills proposed by the ruling party. By law, each filibuster is capped at 24 hours and can only be ended with a three-fifths majority. Since each bill requires a separate vote to end the filibuster, realistically, only one bill can pass per day.
Both sides blamed each other for the deadlock.
Amid intensifying tension, the National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution pledging full state support for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, vowing to leverage the event to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.
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