ED Restoration of dialogue
President Lee Jae Myung, center, joins hands with opposition People Power Party's recently chosen chief Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, left, and Rep. Jung Chung-rae, chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, for a meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Overcoming partisan divide requires constant work
Dialogue has been restored, for now.
It is not dialogue between the two Koreas, but between the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP). President Lee Jae Myung, the liberal DPK chief Jung Chung-rae and the conservative PPP's recently elected leader Jang Dong-hyeok had a luncheon together ahead of Lee's 100th day in office, which falls on Thursday. Jang beat Kim Moon-soo, who was formerly the PPP candidate for the June 3 snap presidential election.
The lunch meeting will hopefully reignite talks across the aisle in the National Assembly. The DPK's 166 seats make for a clear majority, while the PPP still languishes in the long-reaching shadow of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration. Coming out of the meeting, the three agreed to a joint council on people's livelihoods and the economy. Based on that agreement, the DPK and the PPP will meet on a working-level basis to discuss youth unemployment, rising prices and real estate policies — three glaring issues spanning households across the nation.
It is unfortunate that just a sit-down, a handshake and a lunch together would trigger hope that the art of compromise may be returning in the domestic political realm. Since the martial law fiasco last December, the resulting impeachment and now investigations into the crisis, the two political parties have been at war with each other. Jung and Jang did not fail to demonstrate the basic differences between them. Jang requested the president consider vetoing plans to extend three major special counsel investigations and a touted plan to launch a special court to rule on cases resulting from the martial law declaration. Jung, on the other hand, reiterated that the PPP needs to sincerely apologize to the nation for the martial law crisis. He further put a damper on Jang's hopes with his speech at the National Assembly Tuesday, calling on the PPP to "apologize for the insurrection" or face judgment.
The president stressed that while he is from the DPK, he is not there to serve the interests of just one party. Lee requested that the DPK leader "concede more because (the ruling party) has more." The president also sat down separately with the new PPP leader for a closed-door meeting lasting 30 minutes, reportedly discussing ways to reboot the ruling-opposition party dialogues, which was stalled during the first half of the year.
In the current National Assembly session, the ruling party holds a majority against the PPP's 107 seats. Under these circumstances, some very crucial bills such as the "yellow envelope law," which secures greater legal rights for workers including at subcontracted firms, or a second round of amendments to the Commercial Act that give more protections to individual stockholders have been passed, alarming the business sector.
The Lee administration has clarified that one of its main domestic priorities will be striking a balance between management and labor. But Korea Inc. is facing myriad new challenges, both domestically and externally. A working dynamic that benefits all parties in the legislative chamber is essential to smoothing out wrinkles that may increase misunderstandings or even flare into conflicts. The first half of this rocky year should have taught us the need to keep engaging in face-to-face meetings and discussions. We should not take comfort from small gestures like Jung attending a ruling-opposition party meeting after he refused to shake hands with members of the opposition party, identifying them as insurrection forces.
The outcome of Monday's three-way meeting will be measured in how much they can get done through the working-level party discussions. Pending are an array of bills that aim to change the government structure as well as weekly working hours, all issues that affect Koreans' lives and welfare.