The South Korean government has submitted to the National Assembly,... a bill to ratify April's inter-Korean summit agreement... known as the Panmunjom Declaration.
The government has been having a hard time winning bipartisan support for the bill, but now there's an extra stumbling block: the hefty cost of implementing the deal.
Shin Se-min reports.
Once next week's summit is over, rival political parties have agreed that they will consider a bill that would ratify the Panmunjom Declaration.
The unification ministry… had submitted the bill hoping to secure bipartisan support for the denuclearization drive before the summit, but that's now highly unlikely with the parties divided over the price tag.
The government estimates the cost of implementing the declaration through next year would be a total of 417-point-8 million U.S. dollars,… an addition of nearly 265 million to the roughly 152 million already earmarked for next year's inter-Korean cooperation fund.
That money would cover the estimated outlays for joint projects in railways, roads and forestry as well as other modernization initiatives.
President Moon Jae-in, before the bill was submitted, had urged lawmakers to put aside party interests and partisan politics... and give their support at this important juncture.
Conservative opposition parties however, are up in arms about the cost figures.
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party and the minor opposition Bareun Mirae Party say the bill is deceiving the Korean people and that a unilateral demand for ratification is an affront to the National Assembly.
The ruling party, however, is standing by the government-led initiative calling it the duty of the parliament to review and affirm the governments' plans.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.