"Reflection Before the Election... Must Consider Whether It Will Be Persuasive"
Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is giving an opening remark at the members' meeting held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 20th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Regarding Park Ji-hyun, co-chair of the Democratic Party of Korea's Emergency Response Committee, announcing a reform plan along with a public apology, the party's floor leader Park Hong-geun said, "This is the first time I'm hearing about it, and there is no separate discussion at the moment."
On the morning of the 25th, Park appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and stated, "We need to consider how persuasive it will be to the public to show remorse just because we are at a disadvantage ahead of the election."
Earlier, on the 24th, Park Ji-hyun held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly and promised reform, saying, "We will not be trapped in blind support. We will transform into a mass party, not a fandom party."
Regarding this, Floor Leader Park said, "We need to sincerely reflect on and improve our shortcomings, but I believe we need to be more cautious about points where we might confine ourselves within a certain frame. While we should be wary of intra-party politics centered around specific individuals, it is appropriate to move towards competition for the Democratic Party's values, policies, and dedication and passion for the people. There are aspects I agree with, but we should not approach this too narrowly."
On Park Ji-hyun's proposal for the voluntary retirement of the 586 generation (people in their 50s, university entrants in the 1980s, born in the 1960s) and other reform plans, he said, "We must always perform well, and innovation must be continuous to gain sincerity. There can be internal conflicts. With the election imminent, it is a situation where even pooling wisdom to motivate the people who supported candidate Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party in the presidential election to come out to vote again is insufficient."
He continued, "It is better to be more cautious about going for showy gestures just before the election. It is right to gather all our strength and make an urgent appeal to the people, moving in the direction of establishing leadership centered on verified individuals."
Regarding the composition of the second half of the National Assembly, including the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, he said, "Issues concerning each standing committee chair and the second half of the National Assembly are to be agreed upon by the floor leaders of the second half. Therefore, the composition of the second half should naturally be discussed from a zero base, from scratch."
Floor Leader Park also criticized, "There has never been a case where the ruling party in the National Assembly did not take the Speaker position, but despite our proposal to elect the Speaker, the People Power Party is tying it up with other issues and obstructing it."
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