PRIME TIME NEWS 22:00 Ruling party floor leader apologizes to president for political upheaval

PRIME TIME NEWS 22:00 Korea′s rulling party floor leader makes a public apology... to mend relations with the presidential office over a controversial revision on parliamentary law. Meanwhile, the opposition party boycotts legislative duties for the second day. And the United States... slams Pyongyang′s human rights record,... calling it the worst in the world. While the MERS outbreak in Korea is showing signs of winding down,... two more deaths reported today are pulling up the fatality rate to around 17 percent. Stay tuned... for these stories and more. Hello... and welcome to Prime Time News... on this Friday June 26th. I′m Hwang Ji-hye. And I′m Daniel Choy. Thanks for tuning in. Title: Ruling party floor leader apologizes to president for political upheaval A day after President Park Geun-hye took aim at the ruling party and its floor leader... for passing disputed revisions to the parliamentary law, ruling party Floor Leader Yoo Seong-min read a public apology to the president. While Yoo pledged to focus on fully supporting the president′s state policies,... strife within the ruling party is growing as a group of lawmakers are calling for his resignation. Choi You-sun reports. Ruling Saenuri Party Floor Leader Yoo Seong-min has publicly apologized to the president for the latest political upheaval over controversial revisions to the National Assembly law. "I, once again, apologize to President Park Geun-hye. I hope she will be able to ease her anger and forgive the party." Citing concerns that giving the parliament power to request changes to government ordinances could be unconstitutional, President Park vetoed the bill the day before,... accusing the floor leader, who led negotiations for the bill, of doing politics for personal interests. In his own defense, Yoo stressed that his priority since taking the floor leadership four months ago, was passing the bill to reform the public employee pension system, one of President Park′s major reform initiatives. The floor leader acknowledged he may not have given enough thought to the president′s concerns about the opposition party pushing to link the reform bill to the parliamentary law revisions. "More than anybody else, I earnestly hope for the success of the president and her administration." Yoo then vowed to normalize the party′s relations with the presidential office, and seek ways to secure the opposition′s cooperation on passing bills aimed at revitalizing the economy. But ruling party lawmakers close to the president are pressuring Yoo to step down, and there is speculation that some members of the party′s supreme council may withdraw, which will deal a blow to the party leadership. This is considered as a reflection of President Park′s position that Yoo has lost the public′s trust as a politician. Even the opposition party has turned its back on Yoo, expressing disappointment that he has bowed down to the president. Choi You-sun,