South Korea parties reach agreement

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SEOUL, May 1 (UPI) -- South Korea's ruling and opposition parties have agreed to a session of the National Assembly to pass several pending bills, lawmakers said Tuesday.

The session, to take place Wednesday, is the last chance to pass some 60 pending bills before the term of the outgoing National Assembly expires on May 29. Any bills not passed during Wednesday's session will be automatically scrapped.

One of the bills in the backlog aims to prevent physical clashes in Parliament, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, floor leader for the ruling party, said Tuesday he had reached an agreement with the opposing Democratic United Party for the session, after a failed attempt at meeting a compromise. Hwang placed emphasis on passing the anti-clash bill

The bill would limit the parliamentary speaker's authority to put a bill to a floor vote, because in the past floor votes over controversial bills have resulted in brawls between members of Parliament.