Unification Ministry Retained and Human Rights Commission to Remain Independent

The United New Democratic Party (UNDP) and the Grand National Party (GNP) agreed on a bill to retain the Ministry of Unification which President-elect Lee Myung-bak’s transition committee had earlier decided to abolish. The two parties also agreed to leave the National Human Rights Commission of Korea as an independent unit rather than put it directly under the oversight of the president.

UNDP spokesperson Choi Jae-seong and director Park Jae-wan of the transition committee’s government reform and deregulation task force announced that the UNDP and the GNP held two rounds of six-party negotiations in the conference room of the Government Administration and Home Affairs Committee of the National Assembly on Feb. 8, reaching a suitable agreement over the government reform bill.

On Feb. 9, GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-su said, “Though [this agreement] hinders the goal to create a smaller government under the Lee Myung-bak administration, it was the last proposal that the two parties could agree upon to let the new government start off without additional obstacles. The reform bill ought to pass the National Assembly by Feb. 12 because it takes at least 12 days to open a hearing on newly appointed ministers.”

Regarding the UNDP’s request to retain the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Ahn contended that additional compromises were unlikely, saying, “When the Ministry of Unification is retained, there will be 14 ministries in Korean Government, while the Japanese government consists only of 12 with a population three times bigger than South Korea’s. If the UNDP makes any more requests, using a vice ministry system is inevitable.”

UNDP spokesperson Choi responded, saying, “Because the issues that involve the government reform bill are interconnected, this agreement to retain the Ministry of Unification can be nullified as the reform bill does not include all the other ministries.”

The UNDP and the GNP will reopen the six-party negotiations on Feb. 10 to reach a final agreement on the government reform bill and hold general assemblies in each party on the legislation on Feb. 11.

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