President Park Geun-hye participated in a signature-collection campaign Monday calling for the National Assembly to quickly approve a set of economic and labor reform bills.
Park stopped by a campaign booth in Pangyo, south of Seoul, to sign the petition and lambasted the legislature for neglecting its duty of passing laws. It's rare for an incumbent head of state to sign a street petition in connection with a parliamentary failure to pass bills.
Her joining in the campaign was apparently intended to apply stronger pressure to lawmakers, who have been sitting on their hands without doing anything to pass the pending urgent bills. The signing is the latest in a series of Park's appeals to public opinion.
The signature drive was launched by economic organizations, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, last week in response to Park's televised address. During her TV appearance, she defined the current situation as a crisis and pleaded for the people to act.
Park's feelings until her decision to join the campaign are understandable. The passage of economic bills has been carried over to the New Year despite her repeated pleas, and an anti-terrorism bill has been stuck in parliament for more than 10 years amid recurring terrorist attacks abroad. Probably a good number of people would sympathize with her sense of crisis.
Nonetheless, it's incomprehensible for the President to "take to the streets'' to make a direct appeal to the people, instead of exerting her political clout to mediate partisan conflicts and persuade legislators. One has to wonder if she intends to be a demagogue.
The President, as the head of the executive branch, is responsible for tackling national issues in close cooperation with the legislature. Toward that end, the Constitution endows the President with special authority that can be exercised in the event of emergencies.
Granted that, it's wrong for President Park to sign a street petition and emotionally urge the public to act. In fact, she has no one to blame but herself for this political gridlock. That's because it is none other than President Park who took the initiative to enact years ago the current National Assembly Act accused of blocking the passage of all contentious bills in the Assembly.
What the nation's first female chief executive should do right now is to meet lawmakers, especially from the opposition camp, to solicit their cooperation sincerely, instead of denouncing parliament on the street.
Park stopped by a campaign booth in Pangyo, south of Seoul, to sign the petition and lambasted the legislature for neglecting its duty of passing laws. It's rare for an incumbent head of state to sign a street petition in connection with a parliamentary failure to pass bills.
Her joining in the campaign was apparently intended to apply stronger pressure to lawmakers, who have been sitting on their hands without doing anything to pass the pending urgent bills. The signing is the latest in a series of Park's appeals to public opinion.
The signature drive was launched by economic organizations, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, last week in response to Park's televised address. During her TV appearance, she defined the current situation as a crisis and pleaded for the people to act.
Park's feelings until her decision to join the campaign are understandable. The passage of economic bills has been carried over to the New Year despite her repeated pleas, and an anti-terrorism bill has been stuck in parliament for more than 10 years amid recurring terrorist attacks abroad. Probably a good number of people would sympathize with her sense of crisis.
Nonetheless, it's incomprehensible for the President to "take to the streets'' to make a direct appeal to the people, instead of exerting her political clout to mediate partisan conflicts and persuade legislators. One has to wonder if she intends to be a demagogue.
The President, as the head of the executive branch, is responsible for tackling national issues in close cooperation with the legislature. Toward that end, the Constitution endows the President with special authority that can be exercised in the event of emergencies.
Granted that, it's wrong for President Park to sign a street petition and emotionally urge the public to act. In fact, she has no one to blame but herself for this political gridlock. That's because it is none other than President Park who took the initiative to enact years ago the current National Assembly Act accused of blocking the passage of all contentious bills in the Assembly.
What the nation's first female chief executive should do right now is to meet lawmakers, especially from the opposition camp, to solicit their cooperation sincerely, instead of denouncing parliament on the street.
