Park Yong-jin: "Let's Make the Democratic Party a Force for the Many but Socially Vulnerable"

Starting the Speech with the 'Legacy' of Former Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Chairman Heo Daeman
"Let's Go to the Small Room of the Suwon Three Sisters, the Hunger Strike Site of Subcontracted Workers, and the Parents Considering Parental Leave"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] In the August 28 Democratic Party convention to elect a new party leader, candidate Park Yong-jin appealed that the "future of the Democratic Party" lies in political reform, social solidarity for the socially disadvantaged, and the welfare state. Park emphasized that the path of a party for the socially vulnerable is the path the Democratic Party must take.

On the 28th, Park began his policy speech at the Democratic Party’s regular national delegate convention held at the KSPO Dome in the Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Arena with the story of the late Heo Dae-man, former chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Committee. Park said, "We remember the late Heo Dae-man, former chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Committee," and introduced, "In 1995, at the age of 26, he was elected as the youngest local council member. He challenged seven times in Pohang, the conservative stronghold, and lost all seven times. His funeral was held this week." He continued, "He was a proponent of political reform who advocated for the mixed-member proportional representation system during his tenure as party chairman, and a friend of the weak who called for an end to POSCO’s union suppression," and shouted, "We must not remember Comrade Heo Dae-man only as someone who suffered in a hostile area." Park appealed, "The future of the Democratic Party lies exactly where Heo Dae-man fell while practicing the values of political reform and a social solidarity party for the socially disadvantaged."

Park criticized, "Although the president’s wife came to pay respects at the funeral of the three women in Suwon, welfare is being cut back," and said, "Talking about sorrow and saying the blind spots must be eliminated while cutting budgets and taking no action is nothing but a despicable play." He added, "The Republic of Korea must follow the path of the welfare state expanded by the Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in administrations. The future of the Democratic Party lies on that path."

He said, "To stand against the Yoon Seok-youl government, we must now change," and "Our party must be a democratic party where principles live." Park urged, "Let us break away from convenience that ignores procedures, trickery, and politics that change positions according to circumstances, which is a case of losing the big for the small gain," and said, "Only then will there be a future for our Democratic Party."

Referring to the funeral of the three women in Suwon and the sit-in protest of subcontracted workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding in front of the National Assembly, he said, "There is work for the Democratic Party in that small room in Suwon where the three women died alone, and there is work for our Democratic Party in that hot hunger strike protest site in front of the National Assembly by the workers. I thought that both the mistakes our Democratic Party made and the future it must move toward are here."

He said, "Our Democratic Party has been a party that stood with the socially disadvantaged," and "The three women in Suwon who could not even pay less than 50,000 won in health insurance premiums, the subcontracted workers earning about 2 million won a month asking for job security ? our Democratic Party must be a party that fights to protect things that are not grand but very precious." Park appealed, "Let us be a party that becomes a strong support for mothers and fathers hesitating in front of maternity and parental leave applications," and "Let us be a Democratic Party that offers consolation by guaranteeing fair opportunities to mothers and fathers who live with guilt for not being able to provide their children with decent careers and opportunities unlike other children who had good parents."

Park said, "Let us become a Democratic Party that is the strength for the socially disadvantaged, who are the majority," and "That is the social solidarity party I talk about, the path the Democratic Party has walked, and the ‘future of the Democratic Party’ we must go toward." He added, "Politics that fights for results that change the world even by just 1cm! There lies our future."

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