Park Hong-geun: "I will call for a re-vote on the Grain Management Act... The ruling party will be revealed as the Yongsan Branch Office"

16 Vetoes Exercised in the 6th Republic System
Only 1 Approved
6 Rejected, 9 Discarded

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed on the 4th his intention to push for a 're-vote' on the Grain Management Act, on which President Yoon Seok-yeol exercised his veto power. By following the re-deliberation procedure, they aim to expose the unfairness of President Yoon's veto and urge the government to prepare a comprehensive plan for agricultural policy.

At a meeting with reporters in front of the National Assembly plenary session hall on the same day, Floor Leader Park said, "Today, President Yoon exercised his veto on the Grain Management Act. This is the first time since the democratization era that a president has vetoed a livelihood bill," adding, "As the Democratic Party, we will respond according to the Constitution and legal procedures following the exercise of the veto."

He continued, "According to the National Assembly Act, if a veto is exercised, a re-vote must be held in the plenary session," and said, "Once the vetoed bill is sent back from the government, we will proceed with the re-vote according to the procedure," adding, "Through this process, not only will we expose the autocratic governance, but also clearly show the public and farmers how much the ruling party, the People Power Party, has become a mere rubber stamp for the Yongsan branch office."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The bill on which the veto was exercised requires the approval of two-thirds of the total members, that is, the consent of 200 members, but with only 115 People Power Party members currently, it is expected that the bill will effectively be rejected even if a vote is held. Floor Leader Park stated that they will follow the procedure even if it leads to rejection.

Park said, "If the ruling party had any shred of conscience, instead of just looking to the president to exercise the veto all this time, they should have devised measures to persuade our farmers and the opposition," adding, "The ruling party's behavior of dancing along without a word as the president exercises the veto is sheer irresponsibility." He also said, "If the Grain Management Act amendment is rejected during the re-vote process, we will fight together with the people and persistently urge the government to establish a comprehensive plan for agriculture, rice issues, and food and grain self-sufficiency."

Regarding the criticism that there are not enough seats to pass the bill, he said, "If the People Power Party unanimously votes for rejection again, the evaluation of that will be fully received from the people, farmers, and history."

Floor Leader Park also claimed that the veto exercise has broken the opposition's 'foot-dragging' frame.

He said, "The ruling party and President Yoon Seok-yeol's office have been employing two strategies: one was to divide the people and our party over the judicial issues of Representative Lee Jae-myung, and the other was the 'foot-dragging' theory of the major opposition party," adding, "Everyone must have clearly witnessed that foot-dragging is not possible this time." Floor Leader Park criticized, "If the president exercises the veto so autocratically and recklessly, no matter how much the Constitution grants legislative power, it can collapse in an instant, as the people are witnessing."

Meanwhile, under the current Sixth Republic constitutional system, the presidential veto has been exercised a total of 16 times, but re-deliberation by law has occurred only once. Six times the bills were rejected after a re-vote, and nine times the bills were discarded due to the expiration of the term.