Jeong Jeomsik: "Ruling Party Betrays the 'Spirit of Kim Dae-jung,' Who Urged Politics of Dialogue and Compromise"

"Is a Functional National Assembly Possible Without Dialogue and Compromise?"

Jeong Jeom-sik, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized the Democratic Party of Korea, which pushed ahead with the formation of the latter half of the 22nd National Assembly, saying, "Former President Kim Dae-jung always advised that it is desirable for the ruling and opposition parties to achieve politics through dialogue and compromise." He went on, "The current Democratic Party claims to respect former President Kim only in words, but it is actually a party that has completely betrayed his spirit."

Jeong Jeom-sik, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at a members' meeting held at the National Assembly on the 2nd. Photo by Yonhap News

Floor leader Jeong made these remarks at a members' meeting held at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 2nd. He said, "It is problematic in itself that the Democratic Party, which is both the majority party and the ruling party in the National Assembly, is monopolizing the posts of National Assembly Speaker and Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chair by ignoring established practices. The fundamental problem is that, in the process, they disregard and show no respect for minority opposition parties, making unilateral decisions among themselves in a dictatorial manner."

Floor leader Jeong continued, "The Democratic Party claims to have first elected the chairs of 11 standing committees in order to create a National Assembly that works. But is it possible to have a functioning National Assembly when there is no dialogue or compromise between the ruling and opposition parties?" He then added, "The Democratic Party did not want a National Assembly that works; all they wanted was to create a rubber-stamp for the President. As a minority opposition party, we must calmly and thoroughly consider what is the most effective way to confront the ruling party."

Floor leader Jeong said, "At this members' meeting, we will gather the opinions of our lawmakers on future strategies for confronting the ruling party. Even if the decisions we make today may not immediately change the Democratic Party's unilateral behavior, our struggle is by no means meaningless. Politics should always be conducted with the people in mind." He continued, "We must continue to sincerely and persistently inform the public that the Democratic Party's path of dictatorship and self-righteousness ultimately harms the people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.