SEOUL– The rival parties agreed Tuesday to endorse a government reorganization plan under which the veterans affairs agency will be elevated to the ministry level and a separate body for consular services will be newly established.
Officials of the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party made the joint announcement after reaching an agreement to pass the plan through the National Assembly later this month.
The plan calls for upgrading the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, which currently holds administrative status as a sub-ministry-level government body, into an independent ministry. The promotion will empower the veterans affairs minister, who can now only sit in when the Cabinet convenes, to fully join the Cabinet’s decision-making process.
The plan also aims to set up a new sub-ministry-level agency handling consular affairs and services under the foreign ministry.
The parties, however, failed to reach a consensus on whether to abolish the gender ministry.
Replacing the gender ministry with a lower level office under the interior ministry was one of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s key election pledges, but the DP has opposed the idea, saying it could undermine the country’s gender equality policy.
The matter will be further discussed by the floor leaders of the rival parties, along with the establishment of a space agency.
Source: Yonhap News Agency