GNP National Assembly Boycott to End

The National Assembly will resume normal operations after the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) returns to parliament on February 1. The major opposition party and the ruling Uri Party reached an agreement to iron out their differences over the amendment of the private school law yesterday, a point of contention to date.

Kim Han-gil and Lee Jae-oh, floor leaders of the Uri Party and the GNP, respectively, met informally for a mountain climbing outing and agreed to reconvene the National Assembly. According to their agreement, the GNP will submit its proposal to revise the private school law for discussions at the parliamentary Education Committee before resuming its parliamentary duties.

The return of the GNP will end its 53-day boycott of parliament in protest of the amendment of the private school law the Uri Party forced through on December 9.

The two floor leaders said, “We will negotiate the revision of the private school law with an aim to improve the quality of education offered by private schools and to root out corruption in those schools.” In addition, they agreed to discuss other pending issues after parliament normalization.

As the ruling party and GNP agreed to normalize the National Assembly, the confirmation hearings of five ministerial nominees chosen during the January 2 cabinet reshuffle will be conducted shortly. Following the confirmation hearing law, lawmakers must wrap up the hearings by February 10.

GNP leader Park Geun-hye, who has played a central role in boycott efforts to nullify the amendment of the private school law, expressed her approval yesterday through Yoo Jeong-bok, Park’s chief secretary, by saying, “I am with the floor leaders on their agreement to return to the National Assembly. I hope that the two parties can have in-depth discussions about the revision of the private school law at National Assembly.”

Chin-Ku Lee sys1201@donga.com