The prolonged standoff at Korea's National Assembly is taking a toll on legislative affairs.
After the cancellation yesterday of the prime minister's policy speech on the government's extra budget bill,... today,... a scheduled Q&A session with government officials has been put on hold.
For more we connect to our political correspondent Kim Min-ji on the phone.
Min-ji, still no sign of a breakthrough...
Mark, as of now, it appears not.
The National Assembly like you said was scheduled to hold an interpellation session starting today for the next three days -- but with rival parties unable to reach a compromise -- that has been called off for now.
There had been anticipation the questioning session would go on as planned -- as the agenda was set back in late March,... when parties had agreed to hold a parliament session in April... and given that major issues are coming up... such as the inter-Korean summit talks... and deliberation of the government's extra budget bill.
For now, it remains unclear when the Q&A session will get going,... and rival parties also need to set a date for the prime minister's policy speech, which was cancelled yesterday.
Since last Monday, parliament has been at a standstill with parties at odds over how to amend the country's decades-old Constitution,... and divided over contentious bills, such as revising the Broadcast Act to strengthen neutrality,... as well as bills that call for creation of independent body to look into corruption among high ranking officials.
Well, we must point out for our international viewers that this kind of gridlock is not uncommon in South Korea's National Assembly, but it seems especially bad right now. In regards to the frayed ties between the rival parties,... any efforts being made to reach a compromise?
Well, for now at least, the floor leaders of the main parties don't have any plans to meet each other.
They met three times yesterday -- but only reconfirmed their differences.
At this point, this paralysis seems as though it will linger for some time... with parties only playing the blame game.
But with a stack of agendas to go through -- such as amending the Constitution,... as well as deliberating the government's extra budget bill -- lawmakers are under pressure of their own.
Some pundits say should rival parties leave the session like this -- getting no work done... they will be subject to harsh public criticism.
The question now is exactly when and how much each party will be willing to concede to normalize parliament.
Back to you, Mark.
