South Korea's National Assembly convened its first parliamentary session of the year on Thursday.
The 30-day session comes after a period of parliamentary inactivity lasting several weeks... so the rival parties know full well... that they have plenty on their plates.
Kim Min-ji reports.
It's a clean slate for the National Assembly,... as a brand new parliamentary session kicked off on Thursday -- ending a two-month standstill.

"There are countless bills related to people's livelihoods piled up waiting to be reviewed by parliament. The country is also suffering from the fine dust pollution crisis. It's time the government and the National Assembly take action."

Starting next Monday,... the chairs of the political parties will give speeches on their respective agendas and viewpoints.
The following week, the ruling and opposition parties will hold a four-day Q&A session with government ministers... on a range of topics,... including foreign affairs and economy issues.
Likely up for debate will be the no-deal North Korea-U.S. summit and the government's economic policies.

The National Assembly had been stuck in limbo since January,... due to partisan wrangling over a number of issues,... such as the appointment of an election watchdog official without a confirmation hearing,... and alleged real estate speculation by a former ruling party lawmaker.
Parties decided to normalize the assembly amid mounting public criticism that they are constantly bickering and generally being unproductive.

For starters, the parties have agreed to work on non-contested bills related to ultrafine and fine dust pollution crisis in South Korea,... and have them ready for a full floor vote next week.
They include bills to designate severe fine dust air pollution as a national disaster -- which would allow the government to inject state money in case of an emergency.
The parties have also agreed to consider using reserve funds to provide supplies,... such as anti-dust masks,... or air purifiers to the underprivileged.
Rival parties will be coordinating on other urgent bills related to people's livelihoods that need to be passed during the March session this week.

While it's a relief they've decided to work together on the most pressing issues,... they’ve yet to mend their ties over the sticking points that caused the standoff in the first place -- raising concerns over how many concessions they’ll be willing to make for the March session to bear fruit.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.