OPP. BLOC SETS DETAILS OF CROWD CRUSH PROBE

[Anchor Lead]

The special parliamentary probe committee looking into the deadly Itaewon tragedy confirmed their schedules and list of witnesses. The decision was made during a plenary meeting Monday by opposition parties without the ruling People Power Party, which is currently boycotting the committee. The PPP blasted the move saying it was the opposition bloc who breached the bipartisan agreement to first pass next year's budget bill and then conduct the probe.

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With more than half of the operation period of a parliamentary probe committee on the Itaewon crowd crush already passed, the committee held its first plenary meeting only attended by opposition lawmakers.

[Soundbite] Woo Sang-ho(Chair, Parliamentary Probe Committee(DP)) : "We can no longer delay the probe which is the public's stern command and earnest desire of bereaved families."

The opposition bloc agreed to conduct onsite investigations at the site of the tragedy, the Seoul city government and the interior ministry on Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday of next week, the committee will receive briefings from related agencies, including the prime minister's office and the presidential office situation room. Hearings will take place three times early next month. A list of 89 figures who will testify in the hearings has also been decided. They include Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Han Oh-seop, chief of the presidential office's situation room for state affairs. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has been excluded for now but a more detailed list of witnesses will be coordinated by rival parties down the road. Opposition lawmakers have urged the ruling party to return to the committee saying they cannot neglect the duty of uncovering the truth of the disaster.

[Soundbite] Kim Kyo-heung(Parliamentary Probe Committee(DP)) : "We sincerely hope the ruling party would take part. It has the duty to console the 159 victims and their families and satisfy the public's right to know."

The People Power Party blasted what it called the tyranny of the massive opposition bloc arguing it was they who breached the bipartisan agreement to first pass next year's budget bill and then conduct the probe.

[Soundbite] Jang Dong-hyeok(Floor spokesperson, PPP) : "The probe is half-complete from the start. Any confirmed facts from hereafter will be considered as only their side's half-baked truth."

Meanwhile, PPP lawmakers who continue to boycott the committee held separate talks with families of the crowd crush victims on Tuesday.