[Summary] "Moon Administration Betrays People's Hopes" in Joo Ho-young's Speech... Ruling Party: "Continuous Blaming Others" vs Opposition: "Earnest Appeal"

Joo Ho-young "Moon administration took away candlelight to light its own path... Betrayed people's hopes"
Ruling party "What did opposition do during COVID-19 spread?"
Opposition "Not 'Moon Jae-in possession country' but 'Great People possession country'"

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is delivering a negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly plenary session on the 3rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 3rd, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, delivered a negotiation group speech at the National Assembly, sharply criticizing various policies of the Moon Jae-in administration, prompting mixed evaluations from the ruling and opposition parties. While the ruling party raised their voices saying it was "nothing but criticism and reproach against the government and ruling party," the opposition praised the speech as a "heartfelt appeal reflecting the people's sentiments."

Earlier, in his speech, Floor Leader Joo said, "President Moon Jae-in promised in his inaugural address to fulfill all the hopes of the people. What kind of country is South Korea now, four years later, in terms of how much the people's hopes have been realized?" He criticized, "The Moon administration thoroughly betrayed the people's hopes. It took away the people's candlelight and lit only its own path."

He continued, "With about a year left in President Moon's term, the crisis of life and democracy is more serious than ever," and raised his voice, saying, "The shortcut to overcoming South Korea's crisis is to replace the incompetent and immoral administration."

Regarding the government's COVID-19 response, he said, "Our people are winning the long and arduous war against COVID-19," but emphasized, "The government boasts about K-quarantine at every opportunity, but in reality, K-quarantine is a painful model that can only succeed under excessive restrictions on people's freedom, the sacrifices and active cooperation of the people, and the dedication of medical staff. Therefore, if K-quarantine is a successful model, the credit belongs entirely to our people."

He stated, "The game changer that can end the long COVID disaster is vaccination," adding, "The Moon administration, intoxicated with self-praise of K-quarantine last year, failed to secure vaccines early. Our people have to continue fighting COVID this year as well. If they had listened to experts and the People Power Party's suggestions earlier, we would not have fallen behind this much."

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is delivering a negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly plenary session on the 3rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

The ruling party harshly criticized Floor Leader Joo's speech as a "series of 'my credit, blaming others' remarks."

Kang Seon-woo, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, issued a written statement that morning, saying, "As the largest opposition party with 102 lawmakers, there was neither concern nor responsibility for people's livelihoods, nor a vision for South Korea's future," and criticized, "It was nothing but criticism and reproach against the government and ruling party. Truly disappointing."

She added, "When COVID-19 was spreading, what was the People Power Party doing? They sympathized with the Gwanghwamun rallies and made no effort to prevent re-spread," and pointed out, "Moreover, even though vaccinations start this month, it is the People Power Party that is fostering distrust in the government and increasing public anxiety. From beginning to end, they only shout about quarantine failures while neglecting responsibility for people's livelihoods and quarantine."

Spokesperson Kang also emphasized, "Instead of reflecting on their irresponsible attitude, they are only obsessed with 'political scheming' for the April 7 by-elections just two months away," and urged, "I hope they stop political strife and face the truth now."

The Justice Party also harshly criticized Floor Leader Joo's speech, saying, "It is bitter to see the largest opposition party showing no sense of responsibility."

Cho Hye-min, spokesperson for the Justice Party, said in a National Assembly briefing, "Although they declared to overcome the crisis, their diagnosis of the crisis was poor and the speech was full of mere observation without a vision for the future," and added, "The People Power Party must never neglect their political duty to present tangible measures to the people experiencing instability in their lives."

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is delivering a negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly plenary session on the 3rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the other hand, the opposition praised Floor Leader Joo's speech as "a heartfelt appeal from the opposition floor leader reflecting the people's desire for a 'spring of the people.'"

Choi Hyung-doo, spokesperson for the People Power Party floor, said, "The Moon administration and ruling party must now listen to the voices of the people and the opposition," emphasizing, "The crisis-ridden South Korea is not a 'Moon Jae-in possession country' but a 'great people possession country.'"

He continued, "While the world is considering 'vaccine passports,' the government and ruling party should be ashamed for trying to use disaster relief compensation for the people shedding tears in the endless 'COVID tunnel' as an election tool."

He also said, "The government and ruling party should now accept the 'proposal to form a consultative body between ruling and opposition parties' and work with the opposition to ensure that more benefits reach vulnerable groups such as small business owners and self-employed people affected by COVID," adding, "They must create effective and sincere measures so that compensation follows where there are losses and support follows where there is suffering."

Finally, Spokesperson Choi emphasized, "The National Assembly should establish a 'Post-COVID Special Committee' to prepare South Korea's survival strategy after COVID and prepare for an uncertain future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.