▲ People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyuk said on the 6th that he is "willing to meet anytime" with former Korea Communications Commission Chairperson Lee Jin-suk, who signaled she would run as an independent after being excluded from the party's nomination for the Daegu mayoral race. This should be seen as a repeated request for her to run in the National Assembly by-elections to be held alongside the June 3 local elections. However, Lee had effectively signaled her refusal the previous day, writing "The train has departed…" on Facebook in response to Jang's remarks on a YouTube channel that "the party needs former Chairperson Lee in the National Assembly more." Whether the train has departed for good or will come back remains to be seen.
▲ The Public Solidarity Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' (KCTU) Democratic General Federation held a press conference on the 6th in front of the Ministry of Planning and Budget at the Sejong Government Complex, demanding direct collective bargaining with the government. The union, composed of 3,000 administrative support and facility management workers, argued that their wages and working conditions are determined by the Ministry of Planning and Budget's budget guidelines rather than by individual ministries, and demanded direct bargaining. On the 8th, 3,000 privately contracted household waste disposal workers will demand bargaining with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment. With the enforcement of the so-called Yellow Envelope Act, unions' demands for direct bargaining with the government are intensifying. At this rate, one wonders whether they might eventually demand that even the president — the "real boss" — come to the bargaining table.