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The 18th National Assembly begins its first 100-day regular session Monday, some 90 days after being inaugurated. Following Monday¡¯s opening ceremony, the Assembly will immediately start work on overdue bills for a supplementary budget, tax and regulation reform, and public welfare issues. Confirmation hearings for the putative head of the Board of Audit and Inspection and a member of the Supreme Court will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a parliamentary audit of government in October. The session closes on Dec. 10 after the assembly passes the budget for next year.
This session is expected to touch on many controversial issues, from ratification of the Korea-U.S. FTA, to privatization of public and state-invested corporations, and abolition of a cap on cross-investment in affiliates once intended to help disentangle the big firms¡¯ Byzantine ownership structures. Other pending issues include relaxation of a ban on non-banking companies expanding into the banking sector, reform of the reviled comprehensive real estate taxes, and introduction of class action lawsuits against illegal protesters.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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