I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Parliamentary stalemate sickening citizens
The National Assembly building is seen behind a streetlamp around which has been tied a yellow ribbon, a symbol widely used to show the nation’s grief for the loss of hundreds of lives from the sinking of the ferry Sewol in the southwestern seas off Jindo in April. A parliamentary stalemate has strangled a bill to investigate the sinking. / Yonhap
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Constituents complain about prolonged stalemate
By Kang Hyun-kyung
As well as being a time of rest and reflection, for politicians the Chuseok holidays are when they return to their constituencies to learn the opinions of grassroots communities so that some of these needs and wants might be reflected in the remaining months of the political calendar.
This year’s vacation was no exception.
Many lawmakers were out and about in their electoral districts catching up on how citizens felt about what they did, or failed to do, during the parliamentary session. And the majority of views they heard had a common theme ― people are sick and tired of partisan politics.
Saenuri Party lawmaker Lee Jung-hyun, who clinched a key seat over the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) on its home turf during one of the by-elections contested on July 30, said he used the five-day holidays as an opportunity to listen to the people of southwest Jeolla Province.
“Public opinion about the political arena was really bad,” he posted on his twitter account. “There is so much criticism of politicians. Some of the residents that I met with were highly critical about several politicians. I would not name them, though. I regret that voters are increasingly losing trust in politicians.”
Rep. Lee said all the residents are deeply worried about the economy because families and relatives have been hit hard by the continuing economic downturn.
“One of the grandmas that I met shed tears while talking about her son who is unemployed and broke up with his girlfriend because he was without work. She wishes that the conglomerates will consider investing in the region to create job opportunities for college graduates like her son,” he said.
Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the same party said that public distrust of the political arena seemed to have reached a new peak.
“I was told that people found it really tough to make ends meet because the economy is showing no signs of improving. They were upset at lawmakers because politicians took advantage of various perks but did nothing in parliament especially on bread-and-butter issues,” the lawmaker said. “Some of them even said lawmakers should be recalled because they are not helping things work.”
The public opinion delivered by politicians, however, showed a schism between parties.
Like the above two Lees, Saenuri Party lawmakers voiced concern about growing skepticism about parliament, noting the general public was deeply disturbed by National Assembly members they described as high-paying politicians who did nothing to make progress on issues related to public welfare.
But NPAD lawmakers claimed that the general public’s No. 1 priority is that there should be a breakthrough in the parliamentary impasse over a proposed bill relating to investigating the sinking of the ferry Sewol.
Rep. Park Jie-won said that he has seen an increasing number of people from all across the country visited Gwanghwamun Plaza where a group of opposition party lawmakers and civic group activists are staging a hunger strike over the stalled bill.
Park said he joined the protest during the Chuseok holidays.
Rep. Jung Cheong-rae of the NPAD, who has been on hunger strike for 20 days there, said more and more people are visiting the plaza to show their support for him and the activists joining the protest.
He urged President Park to take responsibility for the Sewol ferry tragedy, claiming that a public-private committee should established and tasked with investigating the maritime disaster and allowed to indict those suspected of being responsible for the incident.
The differences in public opinion that politicians learned during the Chuseok holidays fueled allegations that they only delivered the message that they wanted to hear.