Agreement reached on new super ministry (미래창조과학부)

Over the weekend, ruling and opposition party negotiators reached an agreement which, if approved by the full National Assembly in a vote this week, will confirm the rest of President Park Geun-hye's government reorganization plan, including its centerpiece, the Ministry for Future Planning and Science.  As reported by the Korea Joongang Daily, "The agreement came 47 days after the bills were submitted by the Saenuri Party to the Assembly and 21 days since the Park administration began. “President Park expressed her appreciation to the National Assembly for reaching an agreement on the government restructuring plan,” said Kim Haing, a Blue House spokeswoman. “She also said the government and the ruling and opposition parties should cooperate to empower the Ministry of Future Planning and Science to revive our economy and create jobs.” "
A key issue that held up approval of the government reorganization was the claim by the opposition party that formation of the new super ministry would be used by the Park Geun-hye administration to control broadcasting.  That issue was solved by agreement to set up a special comittee on broadcasting.  As noted in the Korea Joongang Daily article," To ensure broadcasters’ neutrality, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to establish a special committee on the issue in the March legislative session. The committee will be composed of an equal number of members from the Saenuri Party and the DUP. It will be chaired by the opposition DUP during its six-month term." More on the specifics of the new Ministry in later posts.