Opposition ends parliament occupation ahead of talks

(ATTN: UPDATES with ruling party's reaction at bottom)
By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's main opposition party on Tuesday ended
its sit-in at the National Assembly amid imminent talks to resolve a standoff
over hotly-contested bills, including a trade deal with the U.S. and deregulation
of the media industry.
"We will normalize the National Assembly to swiftly process bills aimed at public
welfare," Democratic Party Chairman Chung Sye-kyun said while party lawmakers and
staffers filed out of the assembly's plenary session hall.
The decision to free the hall was made at a meeting of the party's supreme
council earlier in the day, according to Chung.
In a blitzkrieg-like move, DP legislators occupied the assembly's main hall in
late December to block the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) from unilaterally
passing all the contested bills, including ratification of a free trade agreement
(FTA), before the end of the extraordinary session Thursday.
Besides the FTA, the rival parties are deadlocked over a long list of reform
proposals, including bills allowing conglomerates and newspapers to acquire a
controlling stake in local television broadcasters, toughening punishment for
cyberspace libel, banning demonstrators from wearing masks in street rallies and
expanding legitimate wiretapping by law-enforcement authorities.
Following failed talks on Monday, a partisan negotiation group plans to convene
later in the day to negotiate when and how to handle the bills. The DP has
reportedly taken a flexible stance concerning voting on the FTA, but remains
adamant in blocking the media deregulation bill.
Observers say the decision to end the protest was apparently made to gain
leverage in the talks later in the day.
South Korea and the U.S. signed the FTA in 2007, with studies suggesting the
agreement would increase their two-way trade of US$78 billion by 20 billion in
the coming years. The U.S. Congress has yet to ratify the pact.
Following the evacuation, the GNP issued a statement describing the occupation as
an act that had "dropped the dignity of the National Assembly to the ground."
"The Democratic Party must promise the people that it will not repeat such an
action," GNP spokesperson Cho Yoon-sun said in a statement.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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