Song Young-gil Proposes Political Reform Talks to Lee Jun-seok...Promotes Replacement of Entrenched Interests and Multi-Party System Reform

與 "Proposal for Jeonggae Special Committee Representative Talks... Must Accept Public Demand"

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed a political reform meeting to Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, regarding the realization of a multi-party coalition politics. The proposal is to pass political reform-related bills before the presidential election on the 9th.

At a meeting of the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Political Reform held at the National Assembly on the 2nd, Song said, "It is neither the attitude the public desires nor befitting of the president's dignity for presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl to dismiss (political reform) as a scam without presenting alternatives," adding, "I want to publicly propose this to Lee Jun-seok, who is reasonable and open to dialogue."

Song added, "Let’s think together about solutions to political reform between me and Lee Jun-seok," and "I hope the People Power Party does not dismiss this as an election strategy but sees it as an opportunity for political change."

Regarding the proposal to shorten the presidential term by one year to hold it simultaneously with future local elections, he explained, "It is unprecedented for a candidate who can win the presidency to voluntarily give up power and reduce the term by one year," and reiterated, "I hope the People Power Party does not dismiss this as an election strategy but sees it as an opportunity for political change." He continued, "It seems there is agreement that this presidential election is about political change beyond regime change, including vested interest reform and multi-party system restructuring," and added, "I spoke with former Chairman Kim Jong-in, who expressed strong agreement, saying the Democratic Party did very well."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Democratic Party plans to hold the Special Committee on Political Reform from the 3rd to the 6th to urgently process political reform legislation, followed immediately by a plenary session to pass the bills before the presidential election. The bills the Democratic Party is prioritizing include △ confirmation of medium-sized electoral districts for basic local councilors (changing from the existing 2?4 members to 3?4 members) △ prevention of satellite parties (parties nominating more than 50% of constituency seats must nominate at least 50% of proportional representation seats) △ improvement of the personnel hearing system.

Kim Young-bae, secretary of the Democratic Party’s Special Committee on Political Reform, said, "The Justice Party, including Representative Lee Eun-joo, is positive. We expect a positive response from the People Power Party." He added, "We urged the floor leaders to negotiate today or tomorrow to convene a one-point plenary session," and explained, "Floor leader Yoon Ho-jung is expected to contact Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, today." Kim Tae-nyeon, chairman of the Special Committee on Political Reform, also said, "The Democratic Party will definitely achieve political reform regardless of the presidential election outcome," and "We will push forward with legislations that are feasible. We request the convening of the Special Committee on Political Reform." After the meeting, when asked by reporters whether they would proceed unilaterally if the People Power Party rejects the proposal, Kim said, "We will decide after seeing the official response from the People Power Party," and explained, "Regarding the one-point plenary session, I believe the intention will be discussed today through negotiations between the floor leaders of both parties."

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