Assembly speaker to call vote on disputed media reform bill

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- National Assembly speaker said Wednesday the disputed
media reform bill will be put to a vote within the day after the ruling party
announced negotiations with the opposition have failed.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) declared that negotiations on a
government-backed bill had collapsed and asked the National Assembly speaker to
use his authority to immediately call a vote.
The unilateral move followed seven-hours of marathon talks Tuesday between GNP
floor leader Ahn Sang-soo and his counterpart from the main opposition Democratic
Party (DP) Lee Kang-rae, which ended without a compromise.
"The negotiations have failed," Ahn said at a party meeting, telling GNP
legislators to secure a path for Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o to reach his seat
at the main Assembly hall.
About 100 GNP lawmakers quickly formed a human barricade around the speaker's
podium. Dozens of ruling and opposition lawmakers had occupied the Assembly hall
for the past week to block the rival party from seizing the speaker's podium.
The proposed revision seeks to allow ownership of broadcasting companies by
newspapers and private businesses, a measure the government claims will help
create tens of thousands of jobs and significantly improve the competitiveness of
the country's media industry.
The main opposition party says it will only undermine the independence and
diversity of news outlets, as only a handful of newspapers have the financial
resources to launch broadcasting services. Critics also say the revision is a
government attempt to streamline and control the media.
Assembly speaker Kim, formerly a GNP member, had so far refused to invoke his
authority, demanding the ruling and opposition parties come to him with a
negotiated deal.
The GNP controls 169 seats in the 299-seat parliament, enough to unilaterally
pass the bill.
"Assembly speaker Kim has been notified of the collapse of negotiations (with the
DP)," GNP spokesman Rep. Shin Sung-bum told reporters. "This means we will vote
on the media law (revision) today after it is put to a vote by the speaker."
bdk@yna.co.kr
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