The ruling and opposition parties’ consultation body is in trouble… The ruling party says, “Let’s make the outline within the state,” while the opposition party insists on excluding the government
President Yoon Seok-yeol is taking a walk with Representative Han Dong-hoon and Floor Leader Choo Kyung-ho after finishing a dinner with the leadership of the People Power Party at the fountain garden in front of the presidential office in Yongsan on the 24th. 2024.9.24. Provided by the Office of the President
As the dinner between President Yoon Seok-yeol and the People Power Party leadership on the 24th ended without any discussion on resolving the legislative conflict, the difficulties in launching the consultative body are expected to continue. The ruling party said, “Let’s draw up the outline of the consultative body within this week,” but the government, which holds the key to resolving the medical school quota issue, is taking the position that “the 2025 school year quota cannot be re-discussed.” In response, the Democratic Party of Korea, which used the “government-excluded consultative body” as a pressure card, criticized the “empty-handed meeting” by highlighting the discord between the ruling and opposition parties.
On the 25th, a key member of the People Power Party said, “We asked the medical community to let us know whether they will participate in the bipartisan council by this week,” adding, “That way, we can consider a solution for the next stage.” Chief Spokesperson Han Ji-ah also met with reporters the previous day and said, “The medical community is having discussions so that an outline can be drawn by this week.”
Within the ruling party, there were voices demanding a proactive change in the attitude of the Blue House and the government, saying, “The ruling and opposition party council was first proposed by Yongsan.” Shin Ji-ho, the People Power Party’s Deputy Director of Strategy and Planning, said, “Chairman Han Dong-hoon also had that idea (of the council), but it was Yongsan who brought it up first.” “Looking at the government’s attitude, it was ambiguous whether it was really for the ruling and opposition party council to succeed or to save face. In order to resolve this issue, we needed to have an open and honest conversation with the president.”
The Democratic Party criticized the dinner between President Yoon and Representative Han, saying it was “truly shocking” that it ended without any results. The Democratic Party’s Special Committee on Medical Disaster Countermeasures said in a statement, “Representative Han himself said that ‘the golden time for the medical crisis is passing,’ but he couldn’t even mention the word ‘medical crisis’ yesterday,” and criticized, “We cannot understand the attitude of the ruling party leader who cannot even bring up the subject unless it is a private meeting.” Democratic Party spokesperson Han Min-soo also pointed out in a commentary, “Are you saying that in the midst of the medical crisis, the president and the ruling party leader met, ate meat, exchanged pleasantries, and then it ended?”
#Ruling and opposition party council#Conflict in the legislature
