For the Success of the Next Government and National Unity, 'Coalition Government' Should Be Considered... "Left and Right Must Unite Hearts"

Jeong Eui-hwa, Former Speaker, "We Must Make a New Start Including a Grand Coalition"
Yoo In-tae, "We Must Move Toward a Coalition"
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum's Reappointment, Ideas Including Bipartisan Agreement on Government Organization Act Amendment

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Regarding the next government, which will be launched with the inherent limitation of a minority ruling party and majority opposition, senior figures from both ruling and opposition parties have voiced the need to consider a "coalition government." Discussions in the political sphere have ranged from concrete proposals for a grand coalition, options to retain Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, to strengthening consultations between the ruling and opposition parties from the planning stages of the government organization law.

Former National Assembly Speaker Jeong Eehwa / Photo by Jang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Former Speaker of the National Assembly Chung Eui-hwa emphasized in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 14th that "(the new government) must make a fresh start, including a grand coalition." A grand coalition is a coalition government formed by major parties in the parliament, which was previously proposed by former President Roh Moo-hyun. Speaker Chung stressed, "The launch of the new government should be a new start toward the future, where the far-right and far-left are excluded, and the left and right unite their hearts." Regarding specific coalition arrangements, he said, "I believe it is acceptable to retain Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum or to allocate one-third of the ministries to the opposition party." For clearer integrated politics, he suggested, "It should be pursued with a focus on decentralization of power and local autonomy."

Former Secretary-General of the National Assembly Yoo In-tae expressed a similar view. Yoo, who served as Senior Secretary for Political Affairs in the Presidential Secretariat during the Participatory Government, said in a previous radio interview, "We must move toward a coalition government." He explained, "Former President Roh proposed a coalition government immediately after his election," adding, "In his first parliamentary policy speech, he said that if the electoral system was changed, the right to recommend the prime minister would be given to the majority party or majority coalition, which was a proposal for a coalition government." He continued, "Our politics must now change the electoral system to guarantee parliamentary pluralism and move toward coalition politics." However, Yoo cautioned, "One thing to be careful about is that President-elect Yoon, during the election process, seemed to try to extract rational people from within the Democratic Party, but this idea is neither a concept of coalition government nor cooperative governance."

The reason senior figures emphasize the necessity of a coalition government is due to concerns over the recent presidential election results and the future political environment of a minority ruling party and majority opposition. In this presidential election, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol won with 16.39 million votes, accounting for 48.6% of the total valid votes. The margin over Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate who came in second, was only 247,077 votes (0.73 percentage points). In a political landscape divided almost evenly, a political strategy for national unity is required.

Former Secretary General of the National Assembly, Yuin-tae [Image source=Yonhap News]

Moreover, looking solely at the parliamentary seats, the Democratic Party holds 172 seats, and considering independent members, it reaches about 180 seats, an absolute majority. Without cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties, there is a significant risk of extreme power struggles between the ruling party controlling the executive branch and the opposition controlling the legislature.

The speculation that Prime Minister Kim might be retained in the next government is also part of exploring the possibility of such a coalition. On the same day, Won Hee-ryong, Planning Committee Chairman of the Transition Committee, appeared on a radio show and said that retaining Prime Minister Kim is "the best option." He explained, "The new president wants to move forward with President-elect Yoon, who is trying to achieve national unity and cooperation with the opposition holding over 170 seats," adding, "There are many rumors about political retaliation, but this option has the effect of reassuring those concerns at once."

Lee Soo-jung, a professor in the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University and former co-chair of the People Power Party's joint election committee, also mentioned, "Rather than secretly completing the government organization law only within the transition committee, I hope that cooperation with the Democratic Party will be sought from the beginning and that the final product will be produced through consultation."

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