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Moon Jin-suk, senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (left), and Yoo Sang-beom, senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, leave the speaker’s office at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on November 13 after a meeting between the National Assembly speaker and ruling and opposition floor leaders. / Source: Yonhap News

Rival parties on Thursday again failed to reach an agreement on a parliamentary investigation into the prosecution’s decision not to appeal the Daejang-dong ruling, as the Democratic Party of Korea (DP) rejected a proposal to appoint Rep. Na Kyung-won as opposition secretary on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

Floor leaders and senior deputy floor leaders from both parties held their fifth round of negotiations on the judiciary committee’s inquiry plan at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, but once again ended the talks without a deal.

The People Power Party (PPP) agreed in principle to the DP’s demand for a judiciary committee-level investigation, but set three conditions: the appointment of an opposition secretary, changes to the way committee chair Choo Mi-ae runs meetings, and the selection of witnesses and reference persons based on bipartisan agreement. The DP refused to accept any of these terms.

The floor leaderships of both parties said they would continue discussions at a later date. However, given that the latest attempt marks the fifth breakdown, observers say it will be difficult to bridge the gap any time soon.

Speaking to reporters after the “2+2” meeting, PPP senior deputy floor leader for parliamentary operations Yoo Sang-beom said, “We could not reach an agreement today. Democratic Party floor leader Kim Byung-gi first said he would accept a judiciary committee investigation, and Floor Leader Song Eon-seok then presented the three conditions, but the DP made clear it could not accept them.”

“In this situation, no further agreement was possible, so we decided to end talks at this point and revisit the issue later. We will review it again after breaking up today and hold another round of talks,” Yoo added.

DP senior deputy floor leader for parliamentary operations Moon Jin-suk said, “Our position was that the three conditions should be withdrawn, while the People Power Party insisted they must be accepted. That’s where we clashed. As long as the dispute over appointing a specific person as secretary remains unresolved, it will be difficult to reach an agreement.”

Among the three conditions, the two sides reportedly clashed most sharply over the proposal to name Na Kyung-won as opposition secretary on the judiciary committee. Still, the DP has indicated it is ready to agree if the PPP drops the demand concerning the secretary post.

“As for Chair Choo’s management of committee proceedings, that can be sufficiently addressed at the leadership level, and witnesses can be arranged practically through agreement among judiciary committee members,” Moon added.