Policy Reversals on Direct Purchase Regulations and Elderly Driver's License Restrictions
Enhancing Public Policy Acceptance and Promoting More Practical Implementation
As the presidential office, government, and ruling party held their first high-level party-government policy council meeting the day before, they plan to hold meetings frequently in the future to enhance policy completeness.
A People Power Party official said in a phone interview on the 23rd, when asked whether the high-level party-government policy council would be regularized, "Not only the high-level party-government council but also the party-government meetings will be held more frequently as needed to coordinate the positions of the party and government on current issues," adding, "Through this, we aim to improve policy completeness and increase public acceptance of policies." This means that policy discussions will be held frequently, including the high-level party-government policy council and the lower-level working party-government meetings announced.
The presidential office introduced the high-level party-government policy council held the day before as a consultative body between the party and government that discusses policies in a more concrete manner. Attendees of the high-level party-government policy council include Sung Tae-yoon, Director of Policy at the Presidential Office, Jeong Jeom-sik, Chair of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, and Kim Byung-hwan, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. More practical discussions take place at the working party-government meetings. Chair Jeong explained that the working party-government meetings are held at the level of secretaries of standing committees of the National Assembly, the party’s policy coordination committee, and vice ministers of relevant ministries. However, since the 22nd National Assembly has not yet convened and negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties on the organization of the assembly have not been finalized, the working party-government meetings may not be held.
The government and ruling party decided to strengthen policy communication because the government recently showed a pattern of announcing immature policies and then reversing them. When controversy arose over the policy banning overseas direct purchases (direct import) of 80 items that did not receive the National Certification Mark (KC) certification announced by the government, People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho said on the 20th, "The government is urged to sufficiently consult with the party during the formulation of major policies that affect the livelihood of the people."
However, on the same day that Floor Leader Choo urged consultation, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the National Police Agency announced the introduction of a conditional driver's license for the elderly. As controversy grew that the policy might infringe on the mobility rights of the elderly, the National Police Agency clarified within a day that "the conditional driver's license is a system to ensure traffic safety and is not targeted at a specific age group."
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