Young lawmakers in bipartisan experiment
From Left: Rep. Kim Sang-min, Rep. Kim Kwang-jin
By Jun Ji-hye
Love crosses borders but can it cross ideologies?
A TV drama featured a plot line that shows that even politicians with different ideologies from rival parties can fall in love with each other.
In “All about My Romance,” the latest SBS TV series about first-term lawmakers, Kim Soo-young (Shin Ha-kyun) from a conservative party and Noh Min-young (Lee Min-jung) of a progressive party, the two eventually tied the knot in the last episode aired Wednesday.
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A poster for the SBS TV series “All about My Romance” about a romance between lawmakers Kim Soo-young played by actor Shin Ha-kyun, right, of a conservative party, and Noh Min-young played by actress Lee Min-jung of a progressive party Courtesy of SBS
They overcame a lot of difficulties caused by ideological differences. Through the somewhat unrealistic love story, the series apparently wanted to drive home the point that notwithstanding the ideological differences between progressives and conservatives, there is a point where that can be overcome.
True to this, some politicians are currently engaged in a similar experiment to produce a bipartisan cooperation that goes beyond ideological differences.
Recently, six young first-term lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) launched a monthly meeting dubbed “Open Up the Future Together” to pursue bipartisan efforts to handle matters related to the youth.
The six are: Kim Sang-min, Jasmine Lee, and Lee Jae-young from the ruling party, and Kim Kwang-jin, Park Hong-keun and Chyun Ho-joon from the DP.
They are united in their belief that the need to improve people’s livelihoods supersedes ideological factionalism.
“There are differences between conservatives and progressives in terms of way of thinking, but, more importantly, we have the same task to improve national interest and people’s welfare. There is no doubt that bipartisan efforts are needed to solve problems facing young people including unemployment or expensive university tuition fees,” said Saenuri Party’s Kim Sang-min in an interview.
The 39-year-old said young legislators all expressed sympathy with the issue, which culminated into them coming out with this initiative.
“We officially meet once a month. We often have unofficial meetings as well to debate on the subject,” he said. “We also plan to jointly propose bills on youth matters and political renovation as we get together with one common agenda.”
DP’s Kim Kwang-jin, 32, the youngest among the members, said the problems the nation now faces generally goes beyond party lines.
“There could be differences in positions that the two factions would take, but solutions to resolve such issues as youth unemployment, education and housing problems are virtually the same. It’s because the ultimate goal that all parties pursue is to make people happy,” he said. “We also all agreed that young politicians should play a role in breaking down bad customs in the political scene.”
The liberal lawmaker is single. When asked an impish question_ whether he can fall in love or get married with a female lawmaker from a rival party like Kim Soo-young did in the drama, his answer was: “No.”
“If I were an ordinary citizen, occasional differences in political opinion would never be a big matter. But I am in a somewhat different position because I have chosen to be a politician. I would not be able to appeal to the public for support, if my wife does not completely agree with me.”
Ruling party’s Kim Sang-min cited such sensitive issues as the abolishment of the National Security Law, which bans pro-North Korean dialogue or activities, as one example in which the two parties still differ.
The members held a joint press conference last week and pledged to spare no bipartisan efforts to ease youth unemployment and nurture young talents.
“As the first step, we plan to propose a bill soon to make it obligatory for parties to use 5 percent of their state subsidies for young people,” they said in a statement.