Lawmakers Are Back at Work

The National Assembly reopened for business Monday after a five-day breakdown over an opposition lawmaker's call for President Kim Dae-jung's resignation. The opposition floor leader, Lee Jae-oh apologized on behalf of Representative Ahn Taek-soo, who made the original resignation demand, and portions of Mr. Ahn's remarks were erased from the National Assembly's records.

"We express regret for the breakdown of the National Assembly, and urge that both the ruling and the opposition should work together to prevent further such occurrences," Mr. Lee said.

The apology and came after two rounds of negotiations in the morning between Mr. Lee, Lee Sang-soo, floor leader of the Millennium Democratic Party and Speaker Lee Man-sup. The ruling party backed down from its earlier demands that Lee Jae-oh specifically include Mr. Ahn's name in the apology.

The portions of Mr. Ahn's remarks that were erased from the records were those pertaining to his demands that the president step down to apologize for his description of the 1950-1953 Korean War as a failed "attempt at unification."

Once the Assembly resumed its grilling of administration officials over the stewardship of their agencies, the parties began sparring over the current economic problems and the string of financial scandals allegedly involving high-tech start-up company presidents and corporate raiders with connections to high-ranking government officials.

The Grand National Party said the ruling party was unable to cope with the current economic fragility, and the Millennium Democrats blasted what it called the opposition's "lack of cooperation."

"Economic restructuring, implemented with the help of 141 trillion won ($108 billion) of public funds, is a failure. 'DJ-nomics' is now winding down as the president's short-lived dream," Representative Hwang Seung-min of the Grand National Party said.

Representative Cho Jae-hwan of the Millennium Democratic Party countered, "I can show you so many cases or bills where the opposition during the past three years has dragged its feet."

The opposition raised the question of whether the president was willing to fire his entire cabinet for the series of financial scandals. But they did not raise the matter formally on the floor of the Assembly.

by Kang Min-seok