Assembly emblem to feature Hanguel

A group of bipartisan lawmakers agreed Tuesday to change the text in the center of the National Assembly emblem and on lapel badges worn in the parliament by representatives from a Chinese character to Hangeul, Korean script.

The parliamentary steering committee passed a bill to revise the relevant law.

In the current design which has been used since 1993, the Chinese character “國,” meaning “country,” sits in the center of the nation’s national flower Mugunghwa, or the rose of Sharon, on badges and flags. The word “국회,” or gukhoi, meaning National Assembly, will replace this.

“Lawmakers agreed with the revision in a bid to show that we love our native language,” said Rep. Yoon Sang Hyun, the governing Saenuri Party’s vice floor leader. “There also have been misunderstandings of the current character as some often mistake ‘國’ for ‘或,’ which means suspicion.”

Rep. Jun Byung-hun, floor leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, said: “I am happy to have a symbolic icon that will give me pride as a Korean.”

The committee-approved revision is expected to be put to a formal vote in the parliament next week.

Once approved, lawmakers will be able to use the newly designed badges in a couple of weeks, according to an official from the parliamentary administration office.

They also agreed to later change a large sculpture of the lawmaker’s badge located behind the seat of the Assembly speaker in the plenary session hall. As it weighs almost 2 tons, a replacement for it is expected to cost a large sum of money. By Jun Ji-hye The korea times