hankyoreh

leaving some to wonder if its behaviour is going beyond what should be considered acceptable.

The Grand National Party’s attacks on National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o are going beyond what should be acceptable in politics. Kim is facing all sorts of pressure from the GNP as its members tell him to unsheathe his power as speaker to have bills relating to the news and broadcast media brought directly to the main floor, this at a time when the ruling and opposition parties are in a state of heightened confrontation over the proposed legislation.

GNP floor leader Hong Joon-pyo went to his party’s Supreme Council meeting Thursday to up the attacks.

“You have to look at the Korean people at a time like this, when the country is in dizzying and difficult times. If you worry about managing your own image, you’re not going to be left with room to stand in later on,” said Hong in comments targeting Speaker Kim, who is being hesitant about invoking his authority to send bills directly to the Assembly floor, despite the wishes of the GNP’s leadership, which wants to see a series of 22 “media-related bills” passed in February’s extraordinary Assembly session.

The same 22 pieces of proposed legislation were brought to the full Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting and Communications Committee by committee chairman and Grand National Party lawmaker Ko Heung-kil. Hong and others in the GNP’s top leadership now want to see the legislation taken directly from the committee to the full National Assembly, thereby quashing all opportunities for discussion at the committee level.

Hong’s attack on Kim at Thursday’s meeting, saying “Everyone enjoys glory and honor when in that position, but it also comes with responsibility and obligation. There are moments when you have to play the role of the evil villain.” He is going so far as to say it is “wrong as an elected official to be obsessed with his position for being mentally drenched in his own fantasies and self-intoxicated.”

“It’s not like anyone is going to acknowledge you even if you put makeup on your face and put on sunglasses and walk around at night,” Hong said.

The personal attacks against the National Assembly speaker, as he agonizes over the conflicting demands of the ruling and opposition parties, appears to reflect displeasure within the Lee Myung-bak administration and its ruling GNP with a speaker elected to his position with their overwhelming support, for the fact he is not adequately “speaking” on their behalf.

Kim was elected to five terms as a member of the National Assembly, and as a long-time member of the GNP has served as its general secretary and floor leader, a position currently held by Hong. Kim was also the vice chairman of President Lee Myung-bak’s presidential transition team but, as required by the National Assembly Act, renounced his party affiliation upon being elected speaker as the position is non-partisan. Members of the “pro-Lee faction” are said to be particularly displeased with Kim.

However the GNP’s attitude departs from the limits of political morals. The party is openly telling someone who left his party to be properly elected to be speaker to get in line with the ruling party and the Blue House, because they want him to play the “evil villain” on proposed pieces of legislation that are all the more contentious because of questions regarding their procedural legitimacy, given the way the Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting and Communications Committee Chairman Ko Heung-kil suddenly called the bills out of their respective subcommittees and ordered them all to the full committee.

Furthermore, the GNP’s high-handed push on the bills in question is inconsistent with its pledge of Jan. 6, when at a meeting of the floor leaders of the three largest parties it was agreed they would “work to pass by agreement” all proposed legislation pertaining to the media.

There are even some within the GNP voicing concern about the party’s high-handed tactics and the attacks on the National Assembly speaker.

At a GNP caucus Friday afternoon, GNP members Nam Kyung-pil, Lee Jung-hyun and Kim Song-sik called for “more discussion” and suggested the current extraordinary National Assembly session is “too early” for the legislation to be before the main floor.

Kim Song-sik called for a revision of some of the bills as drafted by his party. “Let’s cut out the clauses about allowing big conglomerates to have stakes in terrestrial broadcasting,” he said.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]