Han Byeong-do, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), criticized the People Power Party (PPP) on Thursday for boycotting negotiations over the second-half formation of parliamentary committees, saying "there is a limit to patience." He added, "If the People Power Party continues its slowdown, the Democratic Party will make a responsible decision and take action to create a working National Assembly."
Speaking at a policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly Thursday, Han said, "The National Assembly Act holds as a principle that plenary sessions be held every Thursday," adding, "With the People Power Party ultimately refusing to cooperate in normalizing the National Assembly, the handling of livelihood bills that the public is waiting for has once again been pushed back." The DPK had earlier asked National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik to convene a plenary session Thursday to process pending livelihood bills, but the request fell through as the speaker demanded an agreement with the opposition party.
Han also took aim at what he called the PPP's abusive rhetoric. "Yesterday, they swarmed to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee meeting room, staged a picketing protest in front of the door, held a press conference and obstructed the proceedings," he said. "They even attempted to force their way into the meeting room, causing quite a commotion. Shouldn't they at least refrain from obstruction?"
"The time the People Power Party is now wasting is precious time for 50 million citizens," he said, stressing, "We cannot forever just stand by and watch the People Power Party's unjustified parliamentary strike."
Regarding PPP leader Jang Dong-hyuk holding a handwritten sign directed at President Lee Jae-myung reading "Jae-myung, fight me instead of high school students," Han denounced it as "vulgar, abusive politics," saying, "It is hard to believe, and even saddening, that someone who habitually engages in such rash behavior is the leader of the main opposition party. This is the current state of the main opposition."
"No matter how much politics is a continuum of confrontation, there is a minimum level of courtesy that politicians must uphold," he said. "Leader Jang talks about dictatorship and mouth-gagging at every opportunity. The person creating a dictatorial party through unheard-of disciplinary politics and gagging his own party's lawmakers is none other than Leader Jang himself."
Meanwhile, Han pledged all-out efforts to support the three mega projects. "For the three mega projects, on which the fate of the Republic of Korea depends, speed is competitiveness," he said. "The Democratic Party has also expanded and elevated the (related) support task force into a special committee directly under the acting party leader." He continued, "We will include the ranking members of relevant standing committees and lawmakers from the regions concerned as members of the special committee, thoroughly managing not only legislation but also cooperation with local governments," adding, "We will swiftly process related legislation, including the Mega Special Zone Special Act, the Framework Act on Water Management, the Water Supply Act and the Industrial Sites Act, and actively support the budget as well."
