野 "Song Young-gil's Keynote Speech, a Speech Chasing Clouds and Vague Hope Torture"

Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering a negotiation group representative speech at the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The People Power Party positively evaluated the fact that Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, showed a willingness to change in his parliamentary negotiation group representative speech, but pointed out that there are no fundamental measures to recover from the failures of the Moon Jae-in administration, such as real estate policies. They also criticized his mentions of prosecutorial reform and media reform as "stubbornness."

On the 16th, Hwang Bo-seung-hee, senior spokesperson for the People Power Party, criticized in a statement, "Although Leader Song talked about 'patriotic martyrs,' he is ignoring and trying to let slide the disciplinary actions against party members who disparaged former Cheonan ship captain Choi Won-il."

He said, "While I support the speech in which Leader Song Young-gil reflected on the hypocrisy, disconnection from public sentiment, and lack of communication under his leadership and expressed efforts for change for the people as the main opposition party, I also say this."

On the same day, Leader Song delivered the ruling party negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly plenary session, declaring, "The Democratic Party will continuously change and develop, responding to the historical mission and the people's aspirations." He mentioned ▲ solving housing problems through 'Nuguna Jip' (Anyone's House) ▲ promoting prosecutorial reform that resonates with the public ▲ creating jobs through vaccine development.

However, spokesperson Hwang pointed out, "Although no one has left the party in a week, Leader Song appeared as if he had done everything by demanding the resignation of lawmakers suspected of real estate speculation."

Referring to his remarks on solving housing problems, he sharply criticized, "For four years, the opposition and experts have advocated for quality housing supply, but they were ignored. Now, without even an apology, they are attempting a shift to 'supply omnipotence' and again ignoring the main opposition party's advice such as 'normalization of official prices' and 'tax burden relief,' while shouting the unrealistic 'Nuguna Jip.' This seems like a repetition of the past four years."

Regarding the remarks on prosecutorial reform and media reform, he said, "Above all, while saying we should create time for people's livelihood, the stubbornness toward prosecutorial and media reforms, which have been revealed to be solely for regime protection, remains unbroken. How much longer must the people endure this suffering?" He added, "Changes and innovations that remain mere words cannot win the hearts of the people."

He continued, "Leader Song's words about creating politics that serve and respect the people must not end up as empty promises again," and added, "The People Power Party is always ready to work together to overcome COVID-19 and the crises facing our people."

On the same day, Jeon Ju-hye, floor spokesperson, also issued a statement strongly criticizing, "This speech was all generalities without any specific proposals, a speech that catches clouds."

Spokesperson Jeon said, "Today’s speech by Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil showed a somewhat positive aspect in expressing the will to overcome incompetent reforms and hypocrisy, but the people are unlikely to have high expectations as the direction of necessary changes is still not properly identified."

He argued, "What is needed now is not vague hopeful torture about the future, but fundamental cause analysis and solutions for the collapse of people's livelihoods and public anger."

He then reviewed the failures of the Moon Jae-in administration, including real estate and nuclear phase-out policies. He criticized, "The Democratic Party is proposing 'Nuguna Jip' to curb soaring housing prices caused by failed real estate policies, but this cannot be a fundamental measure. What about the Moon administration's radical nuclear phase-out policy? The result of the phase-out has only increased electricity bills, adding to the burden on people's livelihoods."

Spokesperson Jeon emphasized, "Politics cannot overcome public sentiment. What the Democratic Party and the Blue House must do now is a complete policy transformation to solve livelihood issues."