The 20 - day parliamentary inspection of the administration was off to a rocky start yesterday as eight committees embarked on their investigative mission on related government agencies . The inspections come at a time when the major political parties are bracing for an upcoming political battle - the Oct . 28 by - elections . The ruling Grand National Party said its lawmakers will focus on throwing questions that will enhance the livelihoods of ordinary people , while the main opposition Democratic Party raised high hopes of highlighting President Lee Myung - bak administration ` s faults and ineffective policies . A number of divisive issues , like the Sejong City development project , four - river restoration project , tax reduction , the GNP - pushed media laws , constitutional revision , denuclearization of North Korea and labor - related regulations , are tabled at the inspections , which will encompass a total of 478 ministries and government - affiliated agencies . It will continue until Oct . 24 . The culture , broadcasting and communications committee ` s inspection was suspended in the morning after legislators from the ruling and opposition parties fiercely debated over a meeting the ruling party recently held with the government . " I wonder if it ` s okay for the ruling party to draw up countermeasures on the media laws and the four - river restoration project by claiming it was merely a policy coordination meeting with the government , " said Rep . Jun Byung - hun of the DP . " Discussing such crucial and politically - sensitive matters is not a policy coordination meeting but a meeting set up to devise a counteraction scheme for the National Assembly inspection . " Arguments were also raised in the national policy committee ` s inspection of the Prime Minister ` s Office in downtown Seoul . Opposition party lawmakers claimed Prime Minister Chung Un - chan was causing confusion with his statement on the Sejong City development project and that revising the original plan would only lower national economic competitiveness . Chung said earlier that changing the plan was inevitable and that the original scheme was economically ineffective . President Lee ` s " grand bargain " proposal for North Korea ` s irreversible denuclearization in exchange for a security guarantee and economic aid was the big issue at the foreign affairs , trade and unification committee ` s session . " The core of ` grand bargain ` is that it ` s a one - shot deal , which means faith has to be formed initially to make it happen . An agreement on a specific roadmap has to be in place prior to the proposal , " said Yoon Sang - hyun of the GNP . He added that the agreement should include what to abandon and when and how to abandon it as well as what and how the North would receive in exchange . Opposition party legislators also argued that they could not understand why the proposal will be effective and how it could be differentiated from past efforts on North Korea . GNP lawmaker Kwon Young - se also said the South spent more than 2 . 65 trillion won ( $ 2 . 25 billion ) to practice the Geneva Framework Agreement and accords reached at the six - party talks . Members of the legislation and judiciary committee fiercely debated over the legitimacy of the voting process of the unilaterally passed media - related laws , whereas the defense committee looked into whether the National Assembly should reduce the mandatory military service period . Some suggested shortening the term from 24 to 18 months for the Army and the Marines , 26 to 20 months for the Navy and 27 to 21 months for the Air Force . The public administration and security committee focused on how to prevent ballot rigging with the launching of the overseas Koreans ` voting system and how to make it more available to the people who want to cast their ballots . " If the overseas elections fail to maintain balance , it will only bring political confusion and disruption in the Korean community abroad , " said independent legislator Jung Soo - sung . ( sharon @ heraldm . com ) By Cho Ji - hyun