[Politics That Day] Veto by Park: "Politics of Betrayal," an Outrageous Conclusion

President's Veto Exercise Sparks Backlash on Ruling Party
Ruling Party Floor Leader Yoo Seung-min Faces No-Confidence Message
Yoo Seung-min's Resignation Butterfly Effect, Political Turmoil of 2016

Editor's Note‘Politics, That Day...’ is a series planning corner that looks back on Korean politics through the ‘recollection of memories’ related to notable scenes, events, and figures that deserve attention.

“Politics of betrayal that breaks trust ultimately produces hegemonism and factionalism, and the people must judge it decisively in elections.”

The remarks delivered by then-President Park Geun-hye at the Cabinet meeting on June 25, 2015, were a spark that shook the political circles of Yeouido. At the time, neither the Blue House nor the ruling party could have imagined the aftershocks that the Cabinet meeting message would bring.

The starting point of an event that led to a turning point in modern Korean history.

The target of Park President’s accusation of betrayal politics was the focus of attention. Although it seemed like a message aimed at the opposition party, considering the political situation at the time, it was not necessarily so. The background behind President Park’s overt expression of discomfort was the National Assembly Act amendment bill that had been agreed upon by both ruling and opposition parties.

President Park exercised her veto power against the National Assembly Act amendment bill. After this veto on that day, there was no presidential veto exercised in South Korea for seven years until President Yoon Suk-yeol exercised his veto on the Grain Management Act amendment bill on April 4, 2023.

Former President Park Geun-hye is paying respects at the grave of her father, former President Park Chung-hee, at the National Seoul Memorial Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on the morning of March 24, 2022. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

This is why the presidential decision in June 2015 deserves attention.

The National Assembly Act amendment bill focused on strengthening the National Assembly’s oversight function over the executive branch, including provisions allowing standing committees to request modifications or changes to administrative legislation. The bill was processed with participation not only from the then-main opposition party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, but also from the ruling party, Saenuri Party.

Although there were critical voices mainly from the pro-Park Geun-hye faction within the Saenuri Party, the momentum for passage in the National Assembly plenary session could not be stopped.

Therefore, analysis suggested that the ‘politics of betrayal’ President Park referred to was directed at the ruling party’s floor leader. At that time, the Saenuri Party floor leader was politician Yoo Seung-min.

President Park directly targeted Floor Leader Yoo Seung-min, saying, “Politics should not be used for one’s own political philosophy and political logic.” This was a message of no confidence from the sitting president toward the sitting ruling party floor leader.

The ruling party inevitably became unsettled at the time. Voices calling for Floor Leader Yoo Seung-min’s resignation immediately arose within the party. Although Floor Leader Yoo did not respond immediately to the resignation demands, the situation gradually worsened.

With the president and some ruling party lawmakers raising no-confidence motions against the floor leader, it became difficult for him to maintain his position. Eventually, Floor Leader Yoo Seung-min voluntarily resigned on July 8, about two weeks after President Park’s Cabinet meeting remarks on June 25.

Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, a presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is declaring his candidacy for the 20th presidential election on the morning of August 26, 2021, at the Yeouido campaign office in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Politician Yoo Seung-min explained his resignation as follows.

“Just as a lotus blooms from the mud, no matter how much criticism I receive, I have believed that politics is what ultimately changes the world. Under normal circumstances, I would have long ago abandoned the floor leader position, but I did not because there were values I wanted to protect. Those are law, principles, and justice. I risked my political life to uphold the solemn value of Article 1, Clause 1 of our Constitution, which declares that the Republic of Korea is a democratic republic. Even if today is somewhat confusing and uncomfortable, I believed that someone must cling to and protect those values for Korea to move forward.”

Politician Yoo Seung-min’s resignation statement reflects his feelings about the resignation pressure that arose within the party after the president’s Cabinet meeting remarks and the recommendation for resignation through a party caucus meeting.

It contains a message about why he does politics and what kind of politics he wants to pursue.

Politician Yoo Seung-min thus stepped down from the floor leader position. The message from President Park that led to the ruling party floor leader’s resignation remained a political burden. The consecutive events of June and July 2015 ultimately exposed the cracks within the ruling Saenuri Party to the public.

Ahead of the 20th general election in April 2016, the ruling party faced the aftermath of a nomination massacre. Politician Yoo Seung-min declared his departure from the Saenuri Party and his independent candidacy on March 24, 2016. As an independent candidate, Yoo Seung-min returned alive as a member of the National Assembly from Daegu.

The December 2016 presidential impeachment, which heated up the Yeouido political scene, was the result of multiple political incidents overlapping. The nomination turmoil in the April 2016 general election and President Park’s ‘politics of betrayal’ message in June 2015 were driving forces that fueled the massive crucible of the December 2016 impeachment.