A parliamentary panel proposed two bills aimed at enhancing the human rights situation in North Korea on Monday as fresh momentum is picking up in the wake of the adoption of a watershed U.N. resolution last week.

The ruling and opposition parties have agreed to skip a typical 20-day cooling-off period and send the bills directly to the National Assembly’s foreign affairs and unification committee, which convened a plenary session early in the morning and began deliberations.

It is the first time a bill on North Korea human rights has been officially put on the panel’s agenda since its introduction in 2005.

The move came one week after a U.N. committee approved a text calling for the Security Council to refer the issue to the International Criminal Court and levy targeted sanctions against the key perpetrators.

The parliamentary panel plans to hold discussions on Tuesday and take the documents to a subcommittee for a detailed review, aiming to approve them by the end of the year.

But the committee faces a rough ride as the ruling and opposition camps are at odds over whether to provide assistance to civic groups.

“Now is the best time to pass the legislation through bipartisan consensus,” Saenuri Party chair Rep. Kim Moo-sung said at a meeting of senior party members, referring to the recent adoption of the U.N. resolution.

“The National Assembly should keep pace with the international community’s efforts and display its firm resolve to uphold the universal value of human rights by endorsing the bill that has been sitting idle for the past 10 years.”

Kim raised hopes for a compromise with the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, saying its chair Rep. Moon Hee-sang had expressed concerns over the rights situation in the North and willingness to support the bill after “partial revisions” during their consultations.

The Saenuri version calls for an archive to be set up under the Justice Ministry to collect and compile evidence of rights violations in North Korea. It would also mandate that steps be taken by the Seoul government to help improve the situation, with the unification minister formulating a comprehensive framework. It integrates five previous bills and was proposed by Rep. Kim Young-woo and signed by 31 lawmakers.

Yet the biggest fault line is a clause that would facilitate the launch of a foundation affiliated with the Unification Ministry to provide financial support for nongovernmental organizations’ campaigns to promote human rights north of the DMZ.

With the groups mostly consisting of North Korean defectors and conservative activists, the opposition party worries that the law would consolidate the ruling camp’s political base and virtually legitimize the leaflet distribution drives which prompted the two Koreas to exchange fire in October.

Presented by Rep. Shim Jae-kwon, the NPAD edition stresses the need not only to provide humanitarian assistance but also to promote civil liberties.

A spate of similar proposals have been floated since a conservative lawmaker presented a bill in 2005 calling for measures to address the dire living conditions in the North and provide humanitarian assistance.

But none of them passed the committee due to concerns raised by liberals about damage to cross-border relations and escalated tension, as well as partisan bickering over other contentious issues.

“The National Assembly should now break out of its existing attitude and commit itself actively to deliberations,” Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Lee Wan-koo said, calling on the opposition party’s “forward-looking” attitude.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)