Yesterday lawmakers called off a planned speech by the prime minister, who was going to urge them to act on the government's proposed extra spending bill.<br />Today Rival parties have still found no way forward on issues like amending the Constitution.<br />Kim Min-ji has the latest from parliament. <br /> No sign of a let up in the impasse at South Korea's parliament.<br />A three-day interpellation session at the National Assembly scheduled to begin on Tuesday has been put on hold.<br />That was unexpected... since the agenda was set back in late March... when the parties agreed to hold a parliament session in April,... and given that it was to address major issues... such as the inter-Korean summit... and the government's extra budget proposal.<br /><br /> Since the start of the April session last Monday, the Assembly has been at a standstill.<br />The parties are at odds over how to amend the Constitution,... and divided over how to revise the Broadcast Act to strengthen neutrality.<br /><br /> Adding fuel to the fire,... a controversy surrounding the chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, Kim Ki-sik, has set the parties even further apart.<br />Kim has been under fire for trips he took overseas sponsored by financial institutions while he was a lawmaker.<br />Although he denied giving them any preferential treatment in return,... the opposition parties have demanded a prosecutorial probe into the matter.<br /><br /> For now, it seems the paralysis will linger for some time,... with parties sticking to the blame game.<br />The impasse casts a dark cloud over whether the rival parties can get through the stack of agendas -- such as the legal procedures for holding a referendum on Constitutional revision in tandem with local elections in June... as well as deliberating the government's extra budget bill.<br />Some pundits say that should the rival parties leave the session like this -- getting no work done -- they will be subject to harsh public criticism.<br /> At the end of the day,... all sides will have to make concessions -- but the question is exactly when and which party will make the first move.<br />Kim Min-ji, Arirang News. <br />
