Cargo Solidarity vs. People Power Party, Negotiation Breakdown 'Truth Game'

Cargo Solidarity "Negotiations Failed as People Power Party Reversed Tentative Agreement"
People Power Party "Baseless" "Never Opposed"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 13th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] The Cargo Solidarity, currently negotiating with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, claimed on the 13th that "just before the final agreement, the People Power Party suddenly reversed the tentative agreement, causing the negotiations to collapse," signaling a potential escalation into a truth dispute with the People Power Party. The People Power Party immediately rebutted, stating that the claim is completely unfounded.

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, met with reporters after the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that morning and dismissed the Cargo Solidarity's claim, saying, "I judge it to be groundless," and added, "Since it is a sunset law, it is a legislative matter, but it is fundamentally the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's responsibility, not an issue for political parties to intervene."

Earlier, the Cargo Solidarity headquarters released a statement to the media saying, "After long negotiations, we agreed on a tentative plan to 'continue promoting the Safe Freight Rate System and actively discuss expanding the items,'" but "just before the final agreement, the People Power Party suddenly reversed the tentative agreement, causing the negotiations to collapse."

Seong Il-jong, chairman of the Policy Committee, also told reporters, "We have never expressed opposition," emphasizing, "As the ruling party, we can understand to some extent how the government is moving and grasp the situation, but it is completely untrue, as Cargo Solidarity claims, that 'the People Power Party opposed it.'"

The People Power Party has hinted at the possibility of extending the sunset clause of the Safe Freight Rate System but remains cautious about its abolition. On the same day, Lee said on a radio program, "The three-year sunset clause of the Safe Freight Rate System was intended to measure the implementation effect and decide whether to continue it, but unfortunately, the past three years coincided with COVID-19 and high oil prices, making accurate performance measurement difficult. Therefore, there is little disagreement about extending the sunset deadline to measure performance a bit more," adding, "Ultimately, if the sunset clause is abolished, it would mean permanent legislation, so I think more discussion is needed." Floor leader Kwon also said, "Please wait as we are monitoring the negotiation results."

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