(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on June 8)

Session overdue

The National Assembly should have opened its extra session a week ago under the
law governing its operation. It remains closed, and worse still, there is no
knowing when the month-long session will start, if it ever does.

Holding the session hostage is the opposition Democratic Party, with its
perception that the prosecutors' office was not impartial in its inquiry into a
corruption scandal involving former President Roh Moo-hyun and that the law
enforcement agency must be held accountable for Roh's suicide in late May.
On one hand, the Democratic Party insists that prosecutors went out of their way
to humiliate Roh by leaking unconfirmed or unrelated information to the media. On
the other, the opposition party claims the prosecutors were unwarrantedly lenient
in enforcing the law against one of President Lee Myung-bak's close friends
involved in a separate corruption scandal.
The Democratic Party demands Lee offer an apology and discipline those it holds
responsible for the death of Roh. It also calls for an investigation into Roh's
case by a legislature-appointed independent counsel. It says it will boycott a
National Assembly session until its demands are met.
For its part, the ruling Grand National Party proposes to negotiate the issue
concerning an independent counsel on the floor. It was right to say it could not
make any commitment to the opposition's demands for a presidential apology and
the dismissal of the justice minister and others because they are beyond its
purview. It said the answer should come from the president, not from the ruling
party.
The ruling party, which has the National Assembly under its control, is capable
of opening an extra session on its own. Moreover, it has pressing issues to deal
with this month, including revising a law regarding the status of irregular
workers. But the ruling party is reluctant to go alone in opening a session for
fear of a political backlash.
Most burdensome is a shift in public support. According to a recent MBC-TV
opinion poll, the opposition party has surpassed the ruling party in approval
ratings for the first time since 2004 - 28.8 percent for the Democratic Party and
23.5 percent for the Grand National Party.
Worse still, 62.5 percent respondents believe the Lee administration targeted Roh
for a criminal investigation out of vengeance. More than half demand that Lee
apologize to the bereaved and the public and dismiss the justice minister and
others.
The prosecutor general's resignation last week was more harmful than helpful to
the Lee administration and its party. Even more damaging was a request from some
reform-minded lawmakers of the ruling party that Lee apologize to the public for
Roh's death.
Who can blame the Democratic Party for wishing to ride the newfound surge in
public support on its way to parliamentary by-elections later this year and
gubernatorial and other local elections next year? But can it be justified in
continuing to boycott an extra National Assembly session scheduled for this
month? Not really. Its members are neglecting their duties as members of the
National Assembly.
The party may have a strong wish to desert the floor and attempt to bond again
with estranged dissidents preparing to make the most out of the anniversaries of
a major democracy struggle on June 10, 1987, and the first inter-Korean summit on
June 15, 2000. That is understandable, given that the party has been detached
from those dissident groups since its defeat in the 2007 presidential election.
But the party should be reminded of legislative work as the primary
responsibility of its lawmakers. Its leadership is urged to start earnest
negotiations on legislative operations with the ruling party immediately. The
session is long overdue.
(END)