By Seo Dong-shin, Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporters

The ruling and opposition parties on Monday agreed to launch a parliamentary investigation into the controversial rice import deals with nine foreign countries, including China and India, within this month.

The investigation will look into the negotiation procedures with the foreign governments concerned and details of additional bilateral deals, as well as the government’s report on the negotiations, according to an agreement struck between Chung Sye-kyun, floor leader of the ruling Uri Party and his main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) counterpart Kang Jae-sup.

But the details of the investigation will not be made public in accordance with an international practice that prohibits revealing the contents of negotiations, the agreement said.

The floor leaders also agreed on details regarding a bill to review and rectify the nation’s modern history. The bill will likely pass a plenary session today or tomorrow along with a bill to conduct the parliamentary probe into the rice import deals.

Under the agreement, the cases to come under investigation include ``terrorism, human rights abuses and violence, massacres and suspicious deaths committed by those who deny or antagonize the legitimacy of the government.’’

But the clause ``those who sympathize with them,’’ which the conservative GNP has been pushing for, is not included. The ruling party and the progressive Democratic Labor Party have opposed the clause on the ground that it was a frequent pretext of previous authoritarian governments when suppressing democracy activists.

The qualification of members for a committee to investigate the cases was extended to include religious leaders. In addition to lawyers, pubic servants and professors, those who have served in religious positions for more than 10 years can be recommended. The ruling party wanted to extend the range further to those in civic organizations and the media, but the opposition turned it down.

The committee will consist of eight members as recommended by the legislature, four by the president and three by the chief justice.

The ruling party will hold a meeting of its lawmakers to endorse the agreements made with the opposition prior to the plenary Assembly session.

saltwall@koreatimes.co.kr