Yoon's Veto Exercise... Opposition: "Did You Oppose Because It's Lee Jae-myung's Law?"

Ruling Party: "Populist Bills, Government Burden"

Regarding President Yoon Seok-yeol's veto of the Grain Management Act amendment, which was led and passed by the Democratic Party of Korea, the Democratic Party criticized, saying, "Did they oppose it because it was Lee Jae-myung's first bill?" On the other hand, the People Power Party supported President Yoon's veto, calling it a "populist bill." There are also prospects that similar vetoes may be repeated in the future over the Nurse Act, the Yellow Envelope Act, the National Assembly Act amendment, and the Broadcasting Act.

On the 5th, Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-jin said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "This is the beginning of a political frame trying to shift the blame by saying 'It's all the Democratic Party's fault,'" and pointed out, "Saying 'We can't help it, the president has no other choice' is a huge frame manipulation to say during the general election, 'The Democratic Party keeps hitting us, the Democratic Party is too big, please reduce the number of Democratic Party seats.'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Democratic Party lawmaker Jin Sung-jun also said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show', "Can a bill passed for farmers and agriculture be vetoed so abruptly like that?" and criticized, "If the government has any special measures for farmers and agriculture, it might be understandable, but it is neither acceptable nor understandable to exercise the veto without any measures."

Jin said, "During the Lee Myung-bak administration, rice cultivation areas were controlled like this, and the Moon Jae-in administration did the same. However, only during the Park Geun-hye administration, which abandoned this pre-adjustment system, did rice production increase wildly, and later all had to be purchased," adding, "It is coming out as 'No because it is Lee Jae-myung's bill'."

Park Kwang-on, considered one of the candidates for the Democratic Party floor leader, also criticized on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' asking, "Was there any serious consideration of farmers' livelihoods or food security issues?"

On the other hand, the ruling party is opposing the Grain Management Act amendment, calling it "populism." People Power Party lawmaker Jo Soo-jin said on KBS radio that "The Grain Management Act is problematic because it is not truly related to the future of agriculture," and pointed out, "It mandates the government to compulsorily purchase excess rice production, but is this really related to the future of agriculture?"

Jang Dong-hyuk, the People Power Party floor spokesperson, also said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show', "If the mandatory purchase clause is inserted and the government intervenes in the market, it is clear that supply will be disrupted. During the Moon Jae-in administration, Minister Hong Nam-ki also said that such market intervention costs astronomical amounts exceeding 1 trillion won and is very dangerous," criticizing it as a populist bill.

Regarding Democratic Party Supreme Council member Jeong Cheong-rae's statement the previous day that "This administration ended with the president's veto," Jang said, "'The administration ended' can be seen as a confession that they tried to burden the Yoon Seok-yeol government with this populist bill."

In the opposition-controlled National Assembly, there is a high possibility that the opposition will unilaterally pass the Yellow Envelope Act, the National Assembly Act amendment, and the Broadcasting Act, and President Yoon is also expected to respond with vetoes, so the 'strong versus strong' confrontation between the government and ruling party and the opposition is expected to continue. The ruling party also intends to continue recommending veto exercises. Spokesperson Jang said, "We will probably have no choice but to recommend the president to request reconsideration again."

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