The Democratic Party's Card for Poll Recovery is 'Livelihood Activities'... "Labor Union Legislation is More Effective"

Declining Approval Ratings Since March Party Congress
'Drunk Driving Prevention and Drug War' Agenda
Aligned with Government... Attention on Whether Support Will Rise

#Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, visited the Mapo Police Station in Seoul on the 26th of last month to personally demonstrate the ignition interlock device for drunk driving. At the demonstration event held under the name 'Problem Solver for People’s Livelihood! People Power Party is Coming,' Kim said, "The fundamental measure is to completely prevent intoxicated individuals from driving."

The People Power Party has recently been putting all its efforts into 'livelihood legislation.' They have been consecutively legislating issues of great public interest such as drunk driving accidents, youth drug abuse, and school zone traffic accidents. The legislation related to the ignition interlock device for drunk driving, personally demonstrated by Kim, was expedited amid growing public criticism following an incident in Daejeon where a 10-year-old girl was hit and killed by a drunk driving vehicle while walking on the sidewalk in broad daylight. After the leadership team formed at the March 8 party convention saw a sharp drop in approval ratings due to various controversies, it is interpreted that they pulled out livelihood legislation as a card to turn the tide. However, experts analyze that this will only lead to a rebound in approval ratings if it results in actual legislative achievements.

Leader Kim Ki-hyun 'Deploys' to Address Livelihood Issues

According to the National Assembly on the 23rd, the People Power Party has recently been releasing a flood of livelihood bills. Most of these bills came after Kim’s 'on-site deployments' or party-government consultations. A representative example is the 'Road Traffic Act Amendment.' Kim Ki-hyun introduced the amendment to the Road Traffic Act to prevent drunk driving on the 1st of this month. This bill was the first introduced after Kim took office, with 81 ruling party lawmakers co-signing.

The amendment mandates the compulsory installation of a device that measures blood alcohol concentration and prevents the vehicle from starting if the driver is caught drunk driving. Kim Hak-yong, a lawmaker from the same party, also introduced a bill to strengthen the period restricting drunk drivers from reacquiring their driver’s licenses from the current 1-5 years up to 10 years. Following the high-level party-government meeting on the 14th, which included party, government, and presidential office officials, where the mandatory installation of protective fences for vehicles in school zones was discussed, lawmaker Yoon Doo-hyun introduced a partial amendment to the Road Traffic Act including such provisions.

The ruling party also pushed for legislation to strengthen penalties for drug crimes. Lawmaker Yoo Kyung-jun introduced an amendment to the 'Narcotics Control Act' to impose the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment of 10 years or more for administering drugs to minors against their will, increasing the existing penalty of 5 years imprisonment. This was prompted by the 'drug beverage' incident that occurred last month in the Daechi-dong area of Gangnam. After this incident, Kim held a party-government meeting on comprehensive narcotics countermeasures on the 26th of last month and a meeting on youth drug addiction countermeasures on the 16th of this month. On the 17th, Kim wrote on Facebook, "Drug crimes, which should never be touched even out of curiosity, have deeply penetrated not only a small portion of the population but also the daily lives of growing youth," adding, "We will take the lead in eradicating drugs."

In addition, the ruling party held several party-government meetings on livelihood issues. On the 15th, the party and government held a meeting on electricity and gas rates and agreed to raise electricity and gas rates by 5.3% in the second quarter. On the 22nd, they announced plans to amend the Assembly and Demonstration Act to secure the police’s legitimate execution of duties against illegal assemblies and to ban assemblies and demonstrations from midnight to 6 a.m. When the Construction Union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held overnight protests at Seoul Plaza and other locations for two days starting on the 16th, the People Power Party, government, and presidential office held a closed-door high-level party-government meeting on the 21st and swiftly pushed for legislative amendments.

'All-Out Effort on Livelihood Legislation, Why?'

Kim Ki-hyun, the leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 13th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The interpretation is that the People Power Party is focusing all efforts on livelihood legislation to escape the downward trend in approval ratings. Kim emphasized 'livelihood' from the moment he took office, but the various controversies involving top committee members that erupted immediately after the new leadership was formed became an 'issue black hole,' causing Kim’s livelihood efforts to receive relatively less attention. Especially as the leadership risks expanded due to the successive controversies of top committee members, the party’s approval ratings declined. According to a public opinion poll commissioned by Media Tribune and conducted by Realmeter (detailed information available on the National Election Commission website), the People Power Party’s party support rating was 44.3% in the first week of March when the party convention was held, ahead of the Democratic Party’s 40.7%, but then dropped to the 30% range and remained consistently lower than the Democratic Party.

However, after the party’s Ethics Committee disciplined top committee member Kim Jae-won and lawmaker Tae Young-ho on the 10th, somewhat resolving the leadership risk, it is interpreted that the ruling party is attempting to rebound approval ratings through livelihood efforts. A People Power Party official said, "There was some dimming due to the Ethics Committee issues, but we have been pursuing livelihood efforts such as the 'Thousand Won Breakfast' from before. Since we are the ruling party, not the opposition, we will focus more on livelihood going forward," adding, "There are signs of approval rating changes after the Ethics Committee discipline and livelihood efforts."

In fact, the ruling party’s approval ratings have been gradually rebounding. According to Realmeter’s public opinion poll for the third week of May (15th-19th), the People Power Party’s support rating rose 2.2 percentage points from 36.3% the previous week to 38.5%. Although still lower than the Democratic Party’s 42.4%, it narrowed the gap to within the margin of error (±2.0 percentage points) for the first time in 10 weeks since the second week of March. Bae Cheol-ho, senior expert at Realmeter, analyzed, "Since the series of controversies involving the party leadership in the early Kim Ki-hyun administration were resolved around the time of the May 18 Gwangju visit, when shifting gears to 'livelihood' and 'economy,' both the president and the ruling party are expected to see meaningful approval ratings."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

"Labor Union Legislation More Effective Than Livelihood Efforts"

Experts point out that the ruling party’s livelihood 'efforts' alone are unlikely to reverse approval ratings. They emphasize that legislative achievements or groundbreaking agendas are necessary to secure a stable support base. Political commentator Park Sang-byeong said, "The ruling party’s approval ratings are linked to President Yoon’s approval ratings, so livelihood efforts alone are unlikely to raise approval ratings," adding, "The recent rise in the People Power Party’s ratings was influenced by President Yoon’s attendance at the G7 summit and the Democratic Party’s decline is due to growing disappointment with leader Lee Jae-myung over the 'coin' scandal." He continued, "If livelihood efforts lead to legislation or align with government policies, it can maintain the current level of support, which is a good performance for Kim. In that case, it could be a plus factor in the general election."

Professor Shin Yul of Myongji University’s Department of Political Science and Diplomacy suggested that if the goal is to raise approval ratings, legislation on labor unions would be more effective than on drugs or drunk driving. Professor Shin said, "Livelihood efforts on drunk driving and drugs will not negatively affect approval ratings, but legislation on labor union issues would have a more positive impact." He explained, "It is obvious that drunk driving and drugs should not be done. All past administrations have said they must be controlled. However, labor unions are an area where the public has grievances but past administrations found it difficult to address."

Some in political circles predict that in the current political landscape of a ruling party minority and opposition majority, it will be difficult for the ruling party’s livelihood efforts to bear fruit in actual legislation. Currently, the People Power Party holds 114 seats in the National Assembly, far fewer than the 185 seats held by the Democratic Party and other opposition parties. Moreover, from the 30th, the chairpersons of the standing committees to which the People Power Party’s proposed bills belong will all be replaced by Democratic Party members. The chairman of the Public Administration and Security Committee, which oversees the Road Traffic Act and Assembly Act amendments, is currently People Power Party lawmaker Jang Je-won but will be changed to a Democratic Party member at the plenary session on the 30th. The chairman of the Welfare Committee, which handles the Narcotics Control Act amendment, will remain a Democratic Party member.

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