Woo Sang-ho "Despite concerns over the economic crisis, the ruling party creates a strong confrontation... If so, we will face it head-on"

"Opposition's Bipartisan Thunderbolt in Economic Crisis Met with Strategic Response to Goodwill"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Woo Sang-ho, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 19th that the government ruling party and the Yoon Seok-yeol administration are trying to pressure the opposition party by moving toward a ‘strong versus strong confrontation’ and vowed to respond strongly. Chairman Woo expressed his determination to stand firm if political strife arises even amid the economic crisis risk.

At a press conference at the National Assembly on the same day, Chairman Woo said, "Looking at the current political situation, I interpret the core groups of the government ruling party and the Yoon Seok-yeol administration (just a month after the president’s inauguration) as signaling a move toward a strong versus strong confrontation rather than cooperative governance through bipartisan cooperation," adding, "The summons of Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sang-hyuk and the arrest warrant application for former Minister of Industry and Resources Baek Woon-gyu can only be seen as targeting the Moon Jae-in administration. The contradictory actions regarding personnel matters are difficult to explain without political intent."

He pointed out the contradiction in the current government’s pressure on resignations of figures such as Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, and Han Sang-hyuk, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, while raising personnel issues of the previous administration.

Regarding the police raid on Seongnam City Hall related to the Baekhyun-dong development preferential treatment case, he said, "Ultimately, it can only be seen as shifting from thoroughly investigating Daejang-dong because nothing came out, to Baekhyun-dong," adding, "After benefiting from the Daejang-dong allegations during the presidential election, they carried that habit over and conducted a raid on Baekhyun-dong but did not gain much. I judge that this is sufficient to pressure Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate."

He said, "I say this because I interpret the series of moves as an intention to push the situation into a strong versus strong confrontation to pressure the opposition party, so we have no choice but to respond strongly," and added, "In a situation where the ruling party holds fewer seats than the opposition, and considering that opposition cooperation is paramount to overcoming the economic crisis, I question whether this kind of governance strategy is appropriate. I want to urge a change in the governance approach."

Chairman Woo said, "Can this kind of political and power institution-led pressure on the opposition party, using judicial institutions, be seen as a will to overcome the economic crisis?" and warned, "If things go wrong, there is a possibility of another IMF crisis or the 2007-2008 international economic crisis returning. I urge the key figures of the administration to reconsider this issue."

He added, "Continuously talking about people’s livelihoods is not to avoid current issues but to raise awareness of economic crisis signals experienced over the past 20 years and to express a bipartisan will to resolve them," and warned, "If our goodwill is met with political attacks and confrontation, we will respond head-on. If anyone thinks I, who completed the impeachment of Choi Soon-sil, cannot overcome this situation, that would be a misjudgment."

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