Korea′s National Assembly grills gov′t officials on diplomatic， security issues

Описание: And over at the National Assembly，... continuing controversy over the ″bribery list scandal″ has dominated Tuesday′s interpellation session.
Our Park Ji－won tells us more.
Korea′s foreign， unification， and defense ministers，... as well as Prime Minister Lee Wan－koo，... all attended the second day of interpellation sessions，... on diplomatic and security issues.
However，... a large portion of the session has been directed at grilling Prime Minister Lee over the bribery allegations.

″How can prosecutors independently investigate heavyweight figures like Prime Minister and the Presidential Chiefs of Staff？ Aren′t they the ones making personnel decisions about prosecutors？ Thus， the introduction of special prosecution is mandatory.″

″I agree that the investigation should be thorough， and if parliament approves a special prosecution， I will accept the investigation.″
The Prime Minister even said，.. during the session that... he would put his life on the line，... if there is evidence of bribery allegations.
Besides the time spent on the bribery scandal，... the session covered a wide range of security， diplomatic and inter－Korean issues.
Regarding the controversial possible deployment of the U.S.′s anti－ballistic missile system，... known as the THAAD，... defense minister Han Min－koo said it′s one of the options to counter North Korean threats，... adding that Korea is developing its own missile shield called the Korean Air and Missile Defense.
Eradicating corruption in the nation′s defense procurement system was also discussed.

″Despite the government′s numerous efforts to root out corruption in the nation′s defense industry， why are corruption cases so rampant in this area？″

″Due to special features of defense projects， many of the them proceed in secret，... and most contracts between the military and defense businesses are carried out in a bilateral monopoly，... leaving plenty of room for corruption.″
The assembly′s interpellation sessions will continue until Thursday， moving on to focus on the economy， education， and social and cultural matters.
Park Ji－won， Arirang News.