New DPK floor leader vows cooperative politics

Rep. Lee In-young, left, newly elected floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) shakes hands with Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) in their first meeting since Lee took the office on Wednesday at the National Assembly, Thursday. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

Rep. Lee In-young, new floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), asked the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Thursday, to join efforts to normalize the National Assembly, which has been paralyzed due to disagreements over fast-tracked reform bills.

Lee, elected to the post Wednesday, made a courtesy visit to the office of Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the LKP. Lee told Na he wants to share ideas about bringing parliamentary sessions back on track.

“I hope you could consider the fact that the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising is approaching and suggest the LKP participate in the parliamentary activities and revise related laws to resolve pending issues,” Lee said.

The LKP has been boycotting parliamentary sessions since the DPK and three other parties fast-tracked reform bills opposed by the LKP. The party then began a nationwide tour to protest against what they called President Moon Jae-in's “dictatorship.”

Na, meanwhile, urged Lee to consider the LKP as a partner in governing the country.

“I hope that the DPK could consider the opposition party as a partner and increase engagement under the notion,” Na said.

“You said you would listen to other people's voices. I hope you will not simply listen to what Cheong Wa Dae tells you to do. If you listen to our people's voices, I think there are many things that we could do together.”

Throughout the day, the newly elected floor leader had continuous meetings with other party leaders and government officials including Hong Nam-ki, the minister of economy and finance, who asked him to swiftly pass the extra budget bill within the month of May.

During his first party meeting in the morning, the new floor leader promised three things; to do his best to come up with measures to revive the economy for the self-employed, those working for small- and medium-sized firms and young people; to lead the communication and negotiation with opposition parties and to have a healthy competition without defamatory remarks before the 2020 general elections.

Lee, born in 1964, was one of the prominent activists of a nationwide student pro-democracy organization called the National Council of Student Representatives, which was founded in 1987 with the aims of establishing a democratic government and the unification of the Korean Peninsula against former authoritarian governments. While serving as the student representative of Korea University, he had founded and led the student alliance for the first time and served as a pro-democracy activist until entering into politics in 1999 as a founding member of the Millennium Democratic Party, a predecessor of the DPK.

Since he become a lawmaker in 2004 in the 17th Assembly with the Uri Party, a predecessor of the DPK, he has been serving as a representative of Guro, a district in Seoul in every Assembly except the 18th.

He is one a member of “the 386 Generation” which refers to people who were born in the 1960s and went to university in the 1980s, playing a fundamental role in the democratization movement.

Former student activists from the generation are now serving in key posts in the political scene, especially in the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and the Assembly. Those are Cho Kuk, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs; Im Jong-seok, former presidential chief of staff and current special adviser for the United Arab Emirates; Rep. Woo Sang-ho, former floor leader of the DPK and Rep. Song Gap-seok of the DPK.