Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Ruling party urges N. Korea to make 'wise' decision
Rep. Hong Young-pyo, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, gives a speech during an extra session of the National Assembly, Monday. / Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) floor leader Rep. Hong Young-pyo advised North Korea to make the right decision, Monday, and continue talks with the United States amid reports of Pyongyang's possible restoration of a missile test facility in Tongchang-ri.
In a National Assembly speech during an extraordinary session, Hong expressed concerns about the North's moves against the current peace momentum.
“If it goes wrong, (the North) will face a big hurdle for future negotiations. North Korea should make a wise decision to help all,” he said.
Also, he asked other parties to jointly take action to “write a new history of peace and coexistence” on the Korean Peninsula.
His remarks came after the failure of the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi last month where they could not narrow their differences on the details of denuclearization. Afterwards, the National Intelligence Service and two U.S. think tanks claimed to have detected rebuilding work at the long-range missile test site.
Hong also stressed the need for Seoul to mediate dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington as it is a key player in the peace process for the Korean Peninsula.
However, he assessed the importance of the summit highly for its reaffirmation of the two leaders' determination to achieve denuclearization of the peninsula even though they reach a written agreement.
“Despite the differences between the North and the U.S., both sides raised the possibility of an eventual settlement,” he said.
Meanwhile, he pledged to resolve societal inequality and economic polarization, pledging his party will provide legislative support for the Moon Jae-in administration's economic policies.
Citing China's move to invest 400 trillion won into research and development, he said the DPK will push to invest 1 trillion won into R&D and the manufacturing sector every year until 2030. In addition, it will seek 2 trillion won in spending up to 2028 to develop technologies related to artificial intelligence and semiconductors. Hong also said the DPK wants to create a 1.2 billion won fund within two years to support startups.
Pointing to Denmark's “flexicurity” model to easily allow workers to be let go, providing them with allowances equivalent to their wages for two years, he suggested the South introduce this by seeking “grand social compromise” for more flexibility and stability in the labor market. To do so, he called for increasing funding to cover unemployment spending to 2.6 trillion won from 900 billion won.
Hong urged the unions of conglomerates and public firms to impose a salary freeze for three to five years to close the pay gap between large companies' employees and temporary workers.
He pledged that the DPK will discuss with other parties forming organizations and passing bills to help the young generation. He also emphasized the need to pass bills establishing new bodies to investigate high-ranking officials, reform the National Intelligence Service and seek electoral reform.
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party criticized Hong's speech in a statement, claiming that the government and DPK's peace drive with the North was delusional, and adding the inclusive economic policy was a de facto tax-wasting welfare scheme. It called on the DPK to empathize with the people's economic difficulties.