Opposition lawmakers vow to resign over passage of media laws

SEOUL, July 24 (Yonhap) -- As the National Assembly is set to end its
extraordinary session Saturday, bipartisan confrontations over the ruling party's
unilateral passage of controversial media reform bills earlier this week appear
to show few signs of abating.

Lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) escalated their
offensive by threatening to give up their Assembly seats one day after asking the
Constitutional Court to nullify the media law revisions.
Rep. Chung Sye-kyun, chairman of the DP, submitted his resignation to National
Assembly Speaker Kim Hyung-o, becoming the second opposition lawmaker to do so
after Rep. Choi Moon-soon, a former head of local broadcaster MBC, who said he
and his party were responsible for failing to block passage of the media reform
bills.
The revisions, passed Wednesday in a vote attended only by lawmakers from the
Grand National Party (GNP), eliminated restrictions on cross ownership of print
and broadcast media, allowing major newspapers and private conglomerates to own
stakes in broadcasting companies.
The government of President Lee Myung-bak and his ruling GNP have long claimed
the deregulatory move will help create tens of thousands of new jobs while also
improving the overall competitiveness of the country's media industry. Critics,
however, say the move is a conservative attempt to gain control of the country's
major news outlets.
The resignation of a lawmaker can only take effect through a parliamentary vote
or if the Assembly speaker accepts the offer.
About 70 members of the DP's 84 legislators were also said to have submitted
their resignation to the party leader.
Wednesday's legislation, conducted amid violent physical clashes between ruling
and opposition lawmakers, was quickly followed by rumors and allegations that
some of the ballots cast during voting were submitted not by GNP legislators but
by their aides or colleagues.
The ongoing dispute over the legitimacy of the legislation also revolves around a
questionable revoting on one of three major revisions to the media-related laws.
Vice Assembly Speaker Lee Yoon-sung, a GNP representative who chaired the
Wednesday session, had declared the completion of voting on the disputed bill,
but had to quickly call a revote after belatedly realizing that the first vote
failed to meet the quorum.
The DP says the passage of a bill on a revote is invalid because the current law
prohibits a second vote on any one legislation.
"The evil media laws are invalid, legislation through illegal voting and violence
cannot be legitimate," the opposition party leader, Chung, told a press
conference.
The ruling party claims there was no problem because the bill was never rejected
but that the first vote simply did not have the quorum.
"The bill was not rejected, the vote just did not have a quorum, which means the
vote did not even count in the first place," Rep. Cho Yoon-sun, GNP spokeswoman,
told reporters.
Chung and his opposition party plan to attend street rallies throughout the
country until the regular parliamentary session starts in September, according to
DP officials.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)