SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's new parliament finally convened Thursday after opposition legislators ended a six-week boycott called to protest at the resumption of US beef imports. The 299-member National Assembly was supposed to open on May 30 following an April election in which the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) of President Lee Myung-Bak won an overall majority. But the opposition, backing demands made at mass rallies, boycotted it to press for a renegotiation of the beef deal with Washington. Parliamentary leaders of the GNP and the main opposition Democratic Party, formerly known as the United Democratic Party, reached a deal this week to put the assembly back on track. The GNP agreed two key opposition demands -- amendment of a law on preventing livestock epidemics and the opening of a probe into the beef deal....
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