South Korean opposition MPs ready to discuss reforms

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL, Jan 5 (Reuters) - South Korean opposition MPs who have paralysed parliament for weeks said on Monday they were ready to discuss bills needed to help the export-driven economy through the global financial crisis.

Scores of South Korean security personnel and opposition MPs were injured on Saturday when guards broke up an opposition blockade outside of the main floor of parliament. The opposition still occupies other key parliament facilities and has threatened to physically block voting on some measures it calls "evil".

The opposition has delayed votes on about 85 measures the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) wants to quickly pass. These include sweeping tax cuts, easing bank ownership regulations and a free trade deal with the United States.

"Parliament will be normalised once trust is restored," Chung Se-kyun, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, told reporters, adding he was ready to discuss scores of the least contentious bills proposed by the ruling party.

The GNP has offered to delay votes on controversial measures, such as revamping media ownership laws and the U.S. trade deal, if it would help in the quick implementation of other reforms.

Underscoring the growing concern among South Korean business leaders, the country's top five industry groups called for quick action by lawmakers in light of the global economic crisis

"It is time for the National Assembly to play its role properly," the groups said in a rare joint statement on domestic politics.

In a bit of good news for Asia's fourth-largest economy, the battered won currency received a boost as foreign reserves posted their first rise in nine months, but analysts said the outlook still depended on developments in global credit markets. [ID:nSEO359371]