National Assembly passes revised minimum wage bill; Resolution supporting Panmunjom Declaration put on hold

Rival lawmakers passed several dozen bills,... including a revision to the minimum wage bill on Monday.
But a resolution supporting the inter-Korean summit declaration was not put up for a full floor vote as the parties are still at odds over the specifics.
Kim Min-ji reports.

Rival parties failed to vote on a resolution in support of the inter-Korean summit agreement,... called the Panmunjom Declaration,... during a plenary session Monday.
They had initially agreed to do so,... however, were unable to narrow their differences over the specifics.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea wanted to use the phrase "realization of a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons through complete denuclearization"... while the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, called for a stronger statement -- the "complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program."
The resolution will now have to wait for some time to be voted on... as Monday was the final plenary session of the first half of the 20th National Assembly.

But lawmakers did make some progress,... passing over 80 pending bills.
Although most of them got the greenlight without much opposition,... an amendment to the minimum wage bill was approved amid heated debate.
The proposal calls for bonuses and benefits of a certain size to be calculated as part of the minimum pay,..
It would affect regular bonuses worth more than 25 percent of the minimum monthly salary of 1-point-5-7 million won -- about 15-hundred U.S. dollars -- and welfare benefits if they're worth more than 7 percent.
The proposal was met with resistance as some argued that it would undermine the effect this year's minimum pay hike of 16 percent.

Lawmakers will now conclude the first half of parliament's four-year term on Tuesday -- and have to alot of re-electing to do for key parliamentary posts, including National Assembly Speaker.
It's been customary for the party with the largest number of seats in parliament to chose the speaker,... and ruling party has selected a candidate -- although a vote has yet to be held.
However, the main opposition party wants to put off the vote until after the by-elections that will be held on June 13th -- as there could be a shift in which party holds the most seats.
The ruling party currently holds 118 seats,... while the main opposition has 113.

"It seems that for the next few weeks or so,... the National Assembly will be without a speaker -- and with the terms of most key positions in the parliament expiring on Tuesday -- there are concerns that the legislature could be headed for paralysis. Kim Min-ji, Arirang News."