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| Members of the largest opposition Liberty Korea Party protest at the National Assembly calling for an Assembly investigation into hiring irregularities at public firms and fraud at private kindergartens, Tuesday. / Yonhap |
By Park Ji-won
The nation's two major conservative parties, Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and Bareunmirae Party, began boycotting all National Assembly sessions, Tuesday, passing the responsibility for the deadlock to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
Liberal parties, however, criticized the conservative parties for using rivalry with the ruling party to rein in simmering internal conflicts.
Rep. Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the minor progressive Justice Party, blamed the LKP for abusing its position, claiming the reason behind the boycott is the upcoming party convention.
"Everybody knows the real reason behind this boycott is the floor leadership battle within the LKP the upcoming party elections," Lee said.
"We only have 10 days left to pass the budget bill for next year and it is not responsible to boycott the Assembly."
The remarks came after the LKP and the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party pledged not to participate in Assembly activities unless the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) accepts its deal to investigate into illegal hiring practices in public firms and corrupt kindergartens.
The opposition parties raised the allegations at the beginning of the National Assembly audit insisting public corporations, including Seoul Metro which is run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, have provided hiring favors to relatives of current and former employees.
Rep. Park Yong-jin of the DPK also revealed that thousands of private kindergartens committed accounting fraud between 2014 and 2017.
Critics say the LKP's move is part of the leadership battle for the upcoming election to select the leader of the party. The party is to hold an election in December for its floor leader who will exercise power in February's national convention where the party chooses its chairman. The party chairman will have the authority to nominate candidates for the country's general elections in 2020.
"Kim's recent move is to hold the Assembly hostage for the upcoming leadership election," Kim Hyun, former DPK lawmaker, told Yonhap News TV, Tuesday.
The LKP has been divided into several political factions over its party reform. The party's reform committee, which was made to establish the agenda for the conservative party after its defeat in the June elections, faced challenges by several political factions represented by Park Geun-hye loyalists.
The LKP reform committee recently dismissed Jun Won-tchack, a member of the party's personnel reform committee, failing to narrow differences over the schedule for the national convention.
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