[The Editors' Verdict] The Ruling Party Desperately Needs a Strategy to Overcome Collective Lethargy

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Il-gwon] The globally sensational Netflix series "Squid Game" features a tug-of-war game. Ten people form a team to compete against the opposing team. Victory or defeat determines life or death. The desire to win is inevitably desperate. The protagonist's team was objectively at a disadvantage compared to the opposing team, which consisted only of strong men. Confidence is crucial in the game, but since they were outmatched in strength, morale was at rock bottom even before the start. However, the dispirited atmosphere was revived thanks to encouragement and strategy from someone within the team.

"Don't be too discouraged. Tug-of-war is not just about strength. If you devise a good strategy and unite, you can win even if you lack strength."

The tug-of-war scene from the drama comes to mind because the ruling party's morale is hitting rock bottom at the first regular National Assembly session under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. The activities of the regular National Assembly are important to support the implementation of government tasks, but at the one-third mark, the ruling party is failing to lead the direction. The promotion of the 100 legislative tasks announced just before the regular session, including corporate tax cuts to reduce the burden on companies, is sluggish. Instead, the Democratic Party of Korea is busy opposing 22 legislative tasks such as raising the basic pension and supporting rice prices, declaring "We will definitely block these bad laws." Fortunately, through party-government consultations, ten key legislative bills were selected for focused promotion, including the introduction of "parental allowance," support for reconstruction in first- and second-phase new towns, and prevention of stalking crimes and voice phishing.

Objectively, the ruling party is indeed at a disadvantage. Compared to the massive opposition party with nearly 170 seats, there is a widespread perception that it is difficult to achieve anything due to the numerical inferiority. This was already experienced before taking office with the passage of the "complete prosecution reform" bill.

However, the ruling party's performance in the regular National Assembly does not appear to be simply due to objective differences. It is overwhelmed by the opposition in all aspects, including confidence and strategy. Recent party circumstances likely influenced this. President Yoon's approval rating is stuck between 20-30%, making it difficult to secure momentum for state affairs, and the leadership system is unstable. Recently, President Yoon's use of vulgar language targeting the National Assembly during an overseas trip stirred controversy. This is the background behind the ruling party's inability to fully demonstrate its capabilities during the crucial regular National Assembly session.

Concerns have even arisen within and outside the People Power Party that the party has fallen into collective lethargy. The messenger group chat room, which includes all ruling party lawmakers, has reportedly become a space where only birthday and award congratulations are exchanged. There was a time when opinions emerging from the group chat attracted attention when there were party issues. At least, concerns about the party's future and current issues are no longer topics that all lawmakers can openly share. A lawmaker met in private said, "There is no reason to look into the group chat."

What the ruling party desperately needs now is confidence and strategy. If it is difficult to pass contentious bills due to numerical inferiority, they should hasten discussions on non-contentious livelihood bills on which both parties agree among the government tasks. Since this is the first regular National Assembly session after taking office, the ruling party's role in supporting government tasks is even more important.

In the drama, the tug-of-war result was that the objectively weaker team won. One might argue that drama and reality are different. However, wasting the regular National Assembly session is not a duty to the voters who supported the presidential election. If confidence is restored, approval ratings can also be raised. If it is a matter of life and death like "Squid Game," perhaps it will awaken them. About 70 days remain in the regular National Assembly session.