South Korea's National Assembly has convened an extraordinary session -- that will run for the next two weeks.
Bringing an end to over 40 days of inaction,... rival parties started by electing a parliamentary speaker and two vice speakers for the latter half of the 20th National Assembly.
For the latest, we connect to our political correspondent Kim Min-ji.
Min-ji, fill us in.
Ji-yoon,... as you touched upon, the National Assembly is back in action after more than six weeks of inactivity.
The latter half of the 20th National Assembly kicked off with the electing of the assembly speaker and two vice speakers -- filling in the key assembly leadership posts that have sat vacant for over a month.
During a plenary session this morning,... rival lawmakers elected Moon Hee-sang, a six term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea... as the new National Assembly Speaker.
It's been customary for the largest party -- currently the ruling Democratic Party of Korea -- to take the speaker position.
In a short speech following his nomination,... the new speaker emphasized the importance of cooperation.
"Managing state affairs through dialogue, compromise and cooperation will be the destiny of the 20th National Assembly. I promise that "cooperation" will also be prioritized over the next two years.
It will be the ruling party's responsibility to work on bills related to reform and the people's livelihoods. They must not blame the opposition bloc -- but at the same time, the opposition also needs to show sincerity in negotiations. They must make demands, but also make concessions when necessary."
Moon, who will now leave the ruling party to go on as an independent,... will be at the helm until May 2020 when the 20th National Assembly comes to an end.
Two vice speakers were also elected -- five-term lawmaker Lee Ju-young from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, and four term lawmaker Joo Seung-yong from the minor Bareun Mirae Party,... the second- and third-largest parties, respectively.
Now, Min-ji,... this is just the start. We understand the rival parties have got a lot on their plate for the duration of this July session...
Yes.
Due to over a month of paralysis -- they've got a stack of agenda items to work through.
Next Monday, a plenary session will be held to finalize the make-up of the parliament's 18 standing committees.
The ruling party will chair eight of them, the main opposition seven, the Bareun Mirae Party two, and the joint bloc of the Party for Democracy and Peace and the Justice Party will head up one.
They will also vote on the National Assembly Act to separate the committee on education, culture, sports and tourism into two separate ones -- one in charge of education and the other the remaining affairs.
Also on the agenda are confirmation hearings for the candidate for commissioner general of the National Police Agency,... and three nominees for Supreme Court justices.
Now, although we're back on track and despite
