Pressure from Democratic Leadership for 'Lee Jae-myung Resignation,' Breakthrough in Full-Scale Government Offensive

March 7 Meeting with Policy Committee Chair Kim Seong-hwan
"Dual Special Investigations and Fast-Track Promotion in March"
Accelerating Grain Law Processing and Formation of Four Major Livelihood Response Organizations

The Democratic Party of Korea plans to simultaneously push for special investigations into the 'Daejang-dong 5 Billion Club' and the 'Kim Geon-hee Stock Manipulation' allegations during the March extraordinary session of the National Assembly, while accelerating the passage of livelihood-related legislation such as the Grain Management Act amendment. At the same time, the party emphasized its commitment to strengthening measures for the common people's economy by expanding the activities of the party's Economic Crisis Response Center. This is interpreted as an effort to overcome internal turmoil following the rejection of the arrest motion against Representative Lee Jae-myung through both opposition struggles and livelihood drives.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 7th, Kim Seong-hwan, chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, stated at a press briefing held at the National Assembly in the morning, "The Democratic Party's policy is to designate the special investigation bills for the 5 Billion Club and Kim Geon-hee, collectively called the 'double special investigations,' as fast-track bills for prompt processing within March."

Chairman Kim said, "We introduced the Daejang-dong special investigation bill last week, and plan to introduce the Kim Geon-hee special investigation bill this week. Today, the Justice Party expressed a progressive stance on the Kim Geon-hee special investigation bill, so we will try to coordinate and introduce it together if possible. If not, we will proceed with the Democratic Party's bill as planned and negotiate with the Justice Party on the Daejang-dong and Kim Geon-hee special investigation bills to try to process them at the plenary session on the 23rd or 30th."

Regarding the amendment to the Grain Management Act, he emphasized the determination to ensure its passage during the March session of the National Assembly.

Chairman Kim said, "The Grain Management Act for stabilizing rice prices will be processed at the plenary session on the 23rd as promised by the Speaker. We will observe the attitude and opinions of the government and ruling party and finalize the Democratic Party's response plan. Although we cannot definitively say what form it will take at this point, passage is certain."

The party's Economic Crisis Response Center, launched with the installation of an economic crisis situation board in the office of the Democratic Party leader, plans to systematically respond to livelihood legislation by organizing four major response teams under its umbrella.

Chairman Kim said, "Next week, we will form four major bomb disposal response teams under the Economic Crisis Response Special Committee to enable a more systematic response. We also plan to continuously promote related legislation."

Regarding the government's recently announced working hours improvement plan, he stated, "The problem should be solved by increasing productivity, not by increasing workers' working hours, which is a step backward. While the amendment to the Working Hours Act related to the working hours system reform should be thoroughly reviewed in the standing committee, it is a regressive system that goes against the major direction we should take. Therefore, it is considered undesirable, and detailed matters will be discussed after sufficient measures in the standing committee."

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