Park Kwang-on Emphasizes "Next Year's General Election Is a Battle of Expansion... 'Bold Change and Strong Unity'"

"Democratic Party Direction, 'Expansive Integration'... The Key is Values, Vision, and Policy"
"Promoting Measures Like 'Four-Day Workweek for Dual-Income Parents'"

Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 2nd, "Next year's general election will be a battle of expansion," adding, "This year's goal and direction for the Democratic Party is 'expansive integration.'"

Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 2nd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the same day, Park presided over the first floor countermeasure meeting at the National Assembly and said, "The slogan 'Bold Change and Solid Integration' is both the urgent demand of the people toward the Democratic Party and our commitment."

Park said, "We will expand and integrate to win the general election next year," explaining, "We cannot win the election with supporters alone, nor can we win by a spillover effect."

This can be interpreted as a call to reconcile the internal factional conflicts divided between pro-Myeong and anti-Myeong groups, and externally to expand the support base. Recently, in various opinion polls, the number of non-affiliated voters who answered 'no supporting party' or 'don't know' has significantly increased, and the outcome of the general election is expected to depend on who and how many of these voters are attracted.

Park emphasized, "We will prepare and regularly announce a vision of expansive integration that can bring in even the moderate reform-minded citizens who have withdrawn or withheld their support for our party," citing "a four-day workweek for dual-income parents as an example."

Regarding expansion, he added, "The key lies in values, vision, and policies," and "Especially in economic policy, we will become a Democratic Party trusted by the people."

Park also criticized the government regarding the recent issue of 'jeonse fraud' (rental deposit fraud).

He said, "We define jeonse fraud not as an individual's misfortune but as a social disaster for the socially vulnerable," and earnestly requested, "(The government) not to neglect blind spots."

He continued, "It is truly sad that laws named after victims are created in the process of incidents and accidents that attract social attention," adding, "This time must be different. Political positions cannot differ in the face of social disasters." He emphasized, "Support measures for (jeonse fraud victims) are tasks on which the ruling and opposition parties can easily agree," and "We will take support measures as the starting point for political restoration. We strongly urge the ruling party and the government as well."