(LEAD) Ruling party, victims' families fail to narrow differences over ferry bill

(LEAD) parties-ferry bill

(LEAD) Ruling party, victims' families fail to narrow differences over ferry bill
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with result of meeting; CHANGES headline)

SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- The ruling party and family members of the victims of April's ferry sinking failed Wednesday to make a breakthrough in talks aimed at resolving a dispute over a bill calling for the truth behind one of the country's deadliest maritime accidents, both sides said.

It was the second such meeting this week. Both sides said they will meet again on Monday.

"There was no progress at all from last Monday, and today was another occasion to explain each other's established positions," Yoo Kyung-geun, the spokesman of a committee of the victims' family members, said in a press briefing.

Rep. Lee One-koo, the ruling party's floor leader, told reporters the two sides seem to understand each other better after the three-hour-long meeting, but agreed to hold further talks.

The 6,825-ton ferry Sewol capsized off South Korea's southwest coast on April 16, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing. The tragedy has become a political football in South Korea as critics argue that the government's initial failure to properly respond to the disaster contributed to the high death toll.

The families have demanded a bill that calls for the creation of an ad hoc investigative committee with the right to investigate and indict those responsible for the tragedy.

The ruling party, however, has rejected the demand on the grounds that it could disrupt the judicial system.

The series of meetings comes as the ruling party has dismissed the main opposition party's proposal for a three-way consultative body involving the two parties and the families.

On Tuesday, the No. 1 opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy launched a sit-in at the National Assembly in protest of the rival party's refusal to discuss the bill in the newly proposed format.

The ruling party has claimed the consultative body would amount to a challenge to representative democracy.

The opposition party has vowed to boycott the passage of all other bills until after the ferry bill is endorsed by the parliament, a move that has also disrupted the annual parliamentary audit of the government.

entropy@yna.co.kr

hague@yna.co.kr
(END)