Opposition lawmakers stage sit-in to boycott parliament session

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead to reflect protest by main opposition: UPDATES with
details in para 2, speaker's reaction in last 2 paras; RESTRUCTURES throughout)
SEOUL, June 23 (Yonhap) -- More than a dozen lawmakers from South Korea's main
opposition party began a sit-in at the National Assembly on Tuesday to protest
the ruling party's unilateral decision to open an extra session.
Eighteen junior legislators from the Democratic Party (DP), all members of more
hardline factions, began the protest in front of the main chamber in the
afternoon after the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) submitted a request to
convene a month-long extraordinary parliament session starting Friday.
The session was initially scheduled to begin at the start of the month but was
postponed following the death of former President Roh Moo-hyun, who took his own
life in late May amid an intensifying corruption probe into him and his family.
The DP and Roh's supporters have claimed the investigation was politically
motivated.
The sit-in was not endorsed by the DP leadership, but observers say it could
expand into a party-wide collective action.
In the past, South Korean political parties have often resorted to sit-ins and
even physical clashes to block motions by larger rivals. In December last year,
opposition legislators used sledge hammers and fire extinguishers to break into a
barricaded committee room, attempting to stop the GNP from submitting a free
trade pact with the U.S. for preliminary approval.
The DP vowed to block all Assembly activities until the government and the ruling
party first meets its five demands, which include an apology from President Lee
Myung-bak over the former president's death, as well as the immediate withdrawal
of a planned revision to a labor law and other government-backed bills it has
called "evil."
On Monday, President Lee pressed for swift action to revise a law on non-regular
workers -- a move he said will help prevent mass layoffs.
"The most urgent task is to improve working conditions for non-regular workers,"
the president said in a meeting with his senior secretaries at the presidential
office Cheong Wa Dae.
The government says hundreds of thousands of non-permanent workers could lose
their jobs next month unless the revision is passed before then. Under the
current law, which was enacted in July 2007, temporary workers must either be let
go or officially hired as permanent employees after two years at the same
company.
"We will make sure that every standing committee is convened from the 29th, so we
ask our party members of each committee to do their best in handling pending
bills," GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo told a party meeting earlier Tuesday.
An Assembly session can be convened three days after a request from the president
or one-fourth of all registered legislators.
The ruling party controls a majority of 169 seats in the 299-seat parliament.
Tuesday's request was also supported by seven other members of a pro-government
minority party and independents.
The opposition party denounced the latest GNP move as disrespectful of democratic
rules and norms.
"I urge the GNP to seriously think about whether it really is time for it to act
as a mere tool of the president," party chairman Rep. Chung Sye-kyun said.
"I believe this is when we must fight until we do or die," he said.
Assembly Speaker Kim Hyung-o urged party leaders to seek compromise, warning he
will invoke his authority as the speaker should rival parties fail to do so.
"I will do what's necessary within my power to resolve the long-term vacuum state
of the National Assembly," the speaker said in a statement.
bdk@yna.co.kr
odissy@yna.co.kr
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