The ruling Democratic Party said Tuesday that the floor leaders of rival parties plan to meet the following day to discuss how to form parliamentary standing committees to normalize the National Assembly.

They will hold a meeting Wednesday afternoon to launch negotiations over the details of the 18 standing committees that will operate in the second half of the 20th parliament's four-year term.

The National Assembly has been idle for about one month mainly because opposition parties are grappling with their crushing defeat in the latest local elections.

Former Speaker Chung Sye-kyun's two-year term ended in late May, but parties have failed to even start work to pick his successor and form the 18 standing committees as they focused on campaigning for the June 13 local elections.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party and other minor opposition parties suffered humiliating defeats in the elections, leaving them bent on handling the post-election situation.

The LKP previously said that its priority was on resolving internal strife sparked by its election failure.

The minor opposition Bareunmirae Party selected a new floor leader Monday after its two co-chiefs and other senior officials stepped down.

But the opposition parties apparently agreed to launch the discussions on the committee formations as a potential delay in the normalization of the National Assembly would spark public backlash against them.

A pile of bills on policy issues are pending. A confirmation hearing for the police chief nominee is also slated for early July.

The DP also plans to seek cooperation from opposition parties to buttress a joint declaration adopted after the inter-Korean summit in April through parliamentary ratification or a supportive resolution.

In May, the National Assembly failed to adopt the resolution as rival parties differed on the wording regarding North Korea's denuclearization. (Yonhap)