Tension mounts at parliament as deadlock continues

Описание: 국회 긴장감 고조..."5시 본회의" vs "실력 저지"

The National Assembly has until today to process the resignations of lawmakers running for the local elections on June 13th.
But with parliament at a standstill,... it remains to be seen whether a plenary session will be convened today to get things moving.
Let's go straight to our political correspondent Kim Min-ji.
Min-ji, a session was expected to begin at five PM?

That's right, Daniel.
The National Assembly Speaker initially called for a plenary session to be convened at four PM,... stressing that processing resignations of lawmakers running for local elections... is not a matter that should be put off due to political bickering.
That was delayed by one hour to five... but the session has yet to start.
It's been another day of continuous talks here at the National Assembly... but unfortunately with no breakthrough.
With today being the last day to accept the resignations of the four lawmakers -- there had been hopes that there would be some positive developments.
If the resignations are not processed today,... voters in the vacated districts will not be able to choose a new representative alongside the local elections on June 13th,... but will have to wait until April 2019.
((Some lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea... liberal Party for Peace and Democracy... and Justice Party have been making their way in.))
But the conservative Liberty Korea Party is extremely reluctant,... saying a bill calling for an independent counsel probe into the online opinion-rigging scandal... must also be voted on simultaneously.
Lawmakers from the main opposition party have been blocking the entrance to the main National Assembly hall to prevent the other parties from unilaterally convening a plenary session to accept the resignations.
The centrist Bareun Mirae Party are a little less resistant -- saying that if the ruling party agrees to the scope of probe today, they are willing to attend the plenary session.
In order to go ahead,... support from a majority of lawmakers present is needed... meaning at least 147 seats.
The ruling party has 121 lawmakers and should it get support from left-leaning minor opposition parties and independent lawmakers... that adds up to 149 votes.

It seems like it's going to be a long night at the parliament.
So, how far are they past their sticking point at the moment?

Well, the biggest area of contention is still the launching of an independent counsel probe into the online opinion-rigging scandal... allegedly involving a ruling party lawmaker.
Just to give you some background -- a blogger,... known to have ties with a lawmaker Kim Kyoung-soo -- is known to have used a computer program to manipulate internet comments on political news articles,... and there's speculation that the blogger may also have been engaged in rigging activities in the run up to last year's presidential elections.
The conservative opposition have been calling for the ruling party to accept the probe.... and that they would cooperate in getting other parliamentary affairs back on track.
But the ruling party said that the resignations and the probe are issues that should be dealt with separately and cannot be linked.
The ruling party has also said that it won't accept the probe if it's based on the assumption that President Moon Jae-in was elected through opinion rigging.
So basically, we're still at square one at the moment -- hopefully,... I'll have some positive developments in our later newscast.
Back to you, Daniel.

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