Parliament to hold extra session for controversial bills, issues

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES with details throughout)
SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) -- Parliament is scheduled to open an extraordinary
session on Monday, with rival parties expected to lock horns again over
contentious bills and approvals of new Cabinet members, including the newly
appointed heads of the finance ministry and the nation's spy agency.
The session, which ends in early March, follows the last one held in January,
when parties agreed to defer handling controversial bills -- including media
deregulation bills and a free trade deal with the U.S. -- following weeks of
physical scuffles at the National Assembly.
The confirmation hearing of the nation's new police chief-designate will also
surface as a thorny issue. Kim Seok-ki, the former Seoul police head, has been
under pressure to surrender his nomination after six people died two weeks ago in
a police raid on a building where squatters were protesting urban redevelopment.
The parties' negotiating groups reached an agreement on the overall schedule of
the month-long session. Confirmation hearings for the finance ministry and the
election management committee were scheduled for Friday, while hearings for the
new unification minister and the National Intelligence Service head will be held
early next week.
The group also agreed to hold a special inquiry into the tragic fire ignited
during the police raid during the Assembly's plenary session next week, without
opening a parliamentary investigation.
"There is no reason for the parties to not reach a mutual agreement if all bills
are presented to their respective committees," Hong Joon-pyo, floor leader of the
Grand National Party (GNP), said.
Hong vowed to push for 15 major bills, including a financial sector reform bill,
measures to punish lawmakers who create violence in parliament, and the media
bill that would allow large firms and major newspapers to own television
networks.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) is expected to focus on blocking
GNP-proposed deregulation bills, approvals of the police chief-designate and spy
chief-designate Won Sei-hoon, the former minister of public administration and
security.
"It is very important to seek out those responsible for the tragic deaths of the
squatters and reprimand them," Won Hye-young, the DP's floor leader, said.
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