Rival parties agree to vote on media bills after 100-day review

SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's rival parties on Monday reached a
last-minute agreement to put a package of 22 media industry reform bills to a
plenary session vote after 100 days of further discussions also involving civic
activist groups, party officials said.
The agreement on the proposed legislation of new media bills centered on
cross-ownership of print and broadcast media was announced after a meeting
between Park Hee-tae, chairman of the ruling Grand National Party, and his
counterpart of the main opposition Democratic Party, Chung Sye-kyun, at the
National Assembly.
Hours earlier, Assembly Speaker Kim Hyung-o warned he would invoke his authority
to arbitrarily present the controversial media bills directly to a vote unless
the rival parties produce a compromise.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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