A liberal lawmaker has proposed the sending of a special envoy to North Korea as a way to ease escalating tensions between the two Koreas. The Democratic Labor Party’s floor leader Kang Ki-kap made the proposal in a speech before the National Assembly on Tuesday.

He urged North Korea to present a full explanation of a North Korean soldier's killing of a South Korean tourist at Mount Geumgang. But he insisted the South should not give up tours to Geumgang or its joint industrial venture in Gaeseong, which he called "symbols of peace and co-prosperity on the Korean Peninsula."

Turning to the U.S. beef issue, the lawmaker called on the government to hold new beef negotiations with the U.S. and to secure a proper quarantine agenda.

Kang urged the government to devise special measures against inflation. He also proposed a parliamentary resolution on freezing public service fees in the second half of the year.