DPK's majority push

With some two months left until the June 3 local elections, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) continues to dwell in chaos, with friction over nominations. In contrast, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has been moving speedily to bring about drastic changes in less than a year. Controversial laws to revamp the prosecution and the judiciary have passed through the National Assembly. Notably, the passage of an act separating the duties of indictment from investigation will effectively replace what Korea used to know as the prosecution in October, while the so-called "law distortion" bill calls for more accountability for prosecutors and judges. Such swift approval of reform-oriented bills is possible because the DPK holds a majority in the National Assembly, with 161 seats against the PPP's 107. The DPK seeks to press that advantage even further, and have its legislators take the helm at all 17 parliamentary standing committees in the second half of the National Assembly, which begins May 30. Currently, 10 of the 17 are held by the DPK and seven by the PPP. Rep. Jung

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