The two parties agreed to keep two ministries, of unification and of gender equality and family, out of the five the presidential Transition Committee planned to scrap and merge into others. The ministries of maritime affairs and fisheries, of information and communication, and of science and technology are still for the chop.

Wednesday's agreement was exactly the same as that hammered out in bipartisan negotiations on Feb. 14. But that agreement broke down only a day later when president-elect Lee Myung-bak and UDP Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu insisted on earlier positions -- Lee wanted to disband the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Sohn to keep the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Grand National Party floor leader Ahn Sang-soo shakes hands with his United Democratic Party counterpart Kim Hyo-seuk after signing an agreement on government reform on Wednesday.

In an urgent press conference on Wednesday morning, Sohn finally accepted Lee's suggestion. "I still believe that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries should be retained,” said Sohn, whose party counts on voters in fishing communities. “But I've made a resolute decision to help the new government get off to a normal start."

Soon afterwards, the two parties convened a six-man bipartisan meeting, where they agreed to reduce the current 18 ministries and four administrative offices to 15 ministries, two administrative offices, and one minister without portfolio. Two administrative offices -- the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Government Information Agency -- will be disbanded or merged. That reduces the number of Cabinet ministers from the current 19 to 16.

The two parties agreed to postpone negotiations on the possible merger of some government-funded agencies and government committees such as the Rural Development Administration and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission until a new National Assembly is launched after general elections in April.

National Assembly committees met Wednesday afternoon to discuss the government reform plan, which the house is now expected to pass in a plenary session on Thursday. The two parties will finish preparations for confirmation hearings on the Cabinet nominees as soon as possible, hold the hearings on Feb. 27 and 28, and help the new president appoint a Cabinet on Feb. 29.

That means the old and new governments will only have to coexist for five or six days after the Lee administration is inaugurated on Feb. 25. The new government will now be able to avoid a protracted vacuum. Absent Wednesday’s deal, Lee would have had to launch his new government under the existing system and wait for a new parliament to approve his Cabinet.

Lee is expected to take some flak for watering down his original plan only two months after he was elected based on a campaign promise of a small government. Sohn will be criticized for delaying the negotiations and preventing a normal launch of the new government.

(englishnews@chosun.com )