PROGRESS ON KEY LEGISLATION IN DOUBT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000313 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KN KS SUBJECT: PROGRESS ON KEY LEGISLATION IN DOUBT Classified By: POL Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. The current special session of the National Assembly ends on March 3. The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) had pledged to push through several controversial bills in addition to economic reforms after failing to make progress in previous sessions. After the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) vowed to block the KORUS FTA and media reform legislation, deadlock in the National Assembly seemed again inevitable. The crisis in the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification (FATU) committee was averted, however, on February 26 when the GNP and the DP came to an agreement on the KORUS FTA in order to get the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) legislation, necessary in part to ensure USFK's funding stream, approved by the committee and sent to the plenary. Getting the lion's share of press attention, however, is the ongoing controversy over the media reform bills, which the relevant committee chair unilaterally moved forward. The plenary session, scheduled to start on February 27, did not convene, raising questions about the fate of legislation important to the U.S. -- like SMA, anti-piracy cooperation, and peacekeeping operations -- as well as the Lee Administration's proposals for tax cuts, deregulation and other economy-boosting measures. END SUMMARY. -------------- Danger of Deadlock -------------- ¶2. (C) On February 25, GNP legislator Ko Heung-kil, chair of the committee that handles media affairs, invoked his authority to send the media reform bills forward after lawmakers were unable to resolve differences of opinion. Following Ko's decision on the bills, DP lawmakers began a sit-in protest in the committee chamber, calling for an apology from the GNP and vowing not to cooperate with the ruling party on legislative issues. Also on Wednesday, the Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Unification Committee's (FATU) legislative subcommittee endorsed a motion to move the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) to a vote in the full committee after DP lawmakers left the subcommittee session in protest. DP lawmakers had also occupied the FATU committee room, preventing the committee from deliberating other legislation. ¶3. (C) On February 26 the two parties came to an agreement in the FATU committee that allowed the SMA legislation to move forward in exchange for GNP lawmakers' commitment not to force the FTA through the committee. The controversy over media reform remains, however, and National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyung-o said he would not rule out the possibility of invoking his authority to put the media reform bills directly to a plenary vote if the rival parties did not reach a compromise by next Tuesday. Speaker Kim's policy chief Lee Myung-woo told poloff February 27 that the SMA as well as a few economic bills would be brought to a plenary vote on March 2 by the Speaker. Throughout the weekend, the main parties would negotiate which bills to vote on, Lee explained. -------------- Naval Deployment Delayed? -------------- ¶4. (C) On February 19, the National Defense Committee passed the motion to move forward legislation aimed at protecting South Korean fishing and cargo ships from pirates. The Director of MOFAT's newly reorganized International Security Affairs Division, confirmed to poloffs on February 24 the ROKG's intention to deploy a naval vessel to join the international anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden. With the legislation to approve a dispatch up for a vote in the plenary, the legislation, like SMA, is hostage to the conflict over media reform. -------------- Peacekeeping Postponed -------------- ¶5. (C) MOFAT's UN Division on February 25 confirmed to poloffs that the National Assembly is still discussing the peacekeeping operations (PKO) bill. The bill would permit the National Assembly to pre-approve the ROK's participation in PKOs, although this authorization would have to be renewed annually. The sticking points, according to MOFAT, are over a withdrawal clause that would give the National Assembly the ability to stop the dispatch of ROK troops to PKOs it wants to avoid, and the question of whether the bill should be restricted to UN-only PKOs or include other non-UN multilateral PKOs. Our MOFAT contact did not know if, or when, the National Assembly would ratify PKO legislation, but it is unlikely to be addressed before April. -------------- Plenary Possibilities -------------- ¶6. (C) The current conflict in the National Assembly echoes the deadlock in early January when the GNP and DP literally came to blows over the same set of bills. The compromise in the FATU committee was an important step and an acknowledgement of the need to move the SMA legislation forward, but the media reform controversy continues to raise doubts about what can be accomplished in the plenary or if the scheduled March 2 plenary will convene. The GNP has the majority to push the legislation through if they can keep the DP from occupying the Speaker's chair, which prevents him from calling the plenary session to order. A compromise that would delay media reform but pass other important bills seems like the wisest course of action, but the GNP is apparently determined to forge ahead despite the Speaker's public statement February 26 that he would not bring the 22 controversial media laws directly to a plenary vote. GNP heavyweight Park Geun-hye also weighed in saying she opposed forced passage of controversial laws by the Speaker. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) The Blue House has so far maintained its distance from the fray -- a good decision for beleaguered President Lee. Without the benefit of the President weighing in to negotiate a truce, however, the National Assembly is left to its own weak devices for achieving the consensus that is so mysteriously important. The National Assembly is at an important crossroads as it struggles to institutionalize the consensus-based approach the public seems to prefer. Nevertheless, more conflict is sure to come, as the GNP's determination to pass controversial legislation and the DP's obstructionism -- the party's only clear strategy -- continue to cripple progress in the National Assembly. STEPHENS