Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Parliament's extraordinary session for the month of February closed Tuesday, but President
Park Geun-hye's government restructuring bill was not even close to being put forward to
a vote.
Government ministries have been left rudderless and important tasks have come to a grinding
halt.
Heo Seung-ha has the details.
It's been well over a week since President Park Geun-hye was sworn in as Korea's new
leader, but with no progress in the passage of her government restructuring bill, both
the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae and government ministries are not functioning
properly.
As government ministers have yet to take their posts, with some still not even having gone
through their confirmation hearings, the Cabinet meeting, which takes place every Tuesday,
had to be canceled for the second consecutive week.
The finance ministry, which has no leaders, is among the hardest hit.
Minister nominee Hyun Oh-seok will have his hearings next week, and both vice ministers
have been appointed to lead other government bodies.
The trade ministry, which will be separated from the current Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Trade under the new government structure, is having a hard time handling several FTA-related
issues.
Preparations for the negotiations of the free trade deal between Korea, China and Japan,
which will take place in a month of two, are not going well as a result of the uncertainty.
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs has allocated separate budgets for
the land and transport ministry and the maritime affairs ministry according to the government
restructuring plan, but it is incapable of executing the budget as the bill has not yet
passed the National Assembly.
As the ruling Saenuri Party on Tuesday convened an extraordinary session of the Parliament
for the month of March, the session will be opened on Friday.
я However, as the rival parties look no closer
to reaching a compromise, the restructuring bill could be stuck in limbo for weeks.
Heo Seung-ha, Arirang News.