'commie' Fight in Assembly

Lawmakers exchanged harsh words on the parliament floor Tuesday after an opposition lawmaker painted the ruling party red.

As he criticized a bill to revise parts of the National Security Law, Rep. Kim Yong-kap said, "This is why some groups call the ruling Millennium Democratic Party the Second Company of the North Korean Workers' Party."

He made the remark on the second day of the interpellation session while questioning the government on reunification, foreign affairs and national security issues. The government initiated the bill to revise parts of the National Security Law.

The comment from the two-term lawmaker, known for making provocative statements, drew instant protest by ruling party lawmakers.

They also immediately opened an emergency general assembly meeting, charging that Mr. Kim's comments and actions were "contrary to democracy and reunification," and called on the opposition party to dismiss him.

"We cannot work together with a party that brands us an enemy," Chairman Suh Young-hoon of the ruling party said as he came out of the meeting.

Rep. Kim Hee-sun supported him. "We should take this opportunity to bar forever the word ?ommie' from being thrown around in the parliament," he said.

Saying that the opposition Grand National Party will seek to resolve the storm, an opposition insider explained that the party does not want parliamentary paralysis with the economy in turmoil and with an opposition bill to impeach the nation's two top prosecutors pending this week.

But Mr. Kim insisted that he was voicing the public's mood. He refused to apologize or to agree to have his comments deleted from parliamentary records.

"If I take a taxi, many drivers say that they cannot understand why the ruling party is bent on revising the National Security Law unless it is the Second Company of the North Korean Workers' Party," he said.

He served as minister of government affairs during the Roh Tae-woo administration, from 1988 to 1992.

by Lee Jung-min