與 "Lee's 'Hardline Remarks' Disappointing... A Challenge for Political Conflict"

October 24 People Power Party National Audit Countermeasures Meeting
Yoon Jae-ok "Urges Democratic Party to Adopt a Progressive Attitude"

Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 24th regarding Lee's demand for a "total cabinet resignation" as his first statement on party affairs the previous day, saying, "I cannot help but be disappointed by such hardline remarks from Leader Lee and the Democratic Party."

In his opening remarks at the National Assembly's audit countermeasures meeting that morning, Floor Leader Yoon said, "Demanding a total cabinet resignation and belittling meetings with the ruling party leader as meaningless is a challenge for political strife, not an invitation for cooperation."

Earlier, Lee, who had been on a hunger strike demanding a shift in the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's national policy direction, returned to the party after 35 days and said, "The cabinet, which has become a symbol of incompetence and violent behavior, must resign en masse." At this meeting, Jeong Cheong-rae, a Supreme Council member, called Kim Ki-hyun, the leader of the People Power Party, who proposed a 'ruling-opposition livelihood meeting,' a "'figurehead' and said it was a meaningless and ineffective waste of time."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Floor Leader Yoon said, "Cooperation requires respect for the other party who acknowledges differences in thought and seeks to narrow gaps through dialogue, but the atmosphere of the Democratic Party leadership yesterday was different from expectations," and pointed out, "The total cabinet resignation is an issue that Leader Lee has insisted on throughout his hunger strike, and repeating it sounds like he still refuses to abandon the shielded struggle stance."

He added, "Demanding a total cabinet resignation that would paralyze the government during a critical economic and security situation is not an attitude to overcome the difficulties of people's livelihoods together," emphasizing, "It is a discourtesy aimed solely at gaining political advantage through an offensive against the government."

Regarding the opposition party's demand for a "complete review of the budget," he countered with the necessity of maintaining sound fiscal management. Floor Leader Yoon asked, "How can the government accept the fiscal expansion advocated by the Democratic Party when global expert organizations are unanimously concerned about the rapid increase in Korea's debt and emphasize the need to maintain sound finances?"

He then requested the Democratic Party's cooperation in the budget review scheduled after the conclusion of the audit. He said, "If the Democratic Party continues its one-sided struggle against the government and ruling party, confrontation in the budget process will be unavoidable," and added, "I hope the National Assembly shows the public that it has taken at least one step closer to public sentiment compared to a month ago when conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties reached an extreme, and I urge the Democratic Party to adopt a forward-looking attitude."

After the meeting, Floor Leader Yoon met with reporters and said, "When Leader Lee returned yesterday, I did not expect him to talk about a total cabinet resignation. I expected an important stance related to people's livelihoods and a message emphasizing productive cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties in the last regular session of the 21st National Assembly," adding, "The total cabinet resignation was an unexpected remark, and it was regrettable given the current atmosphere where both ruling and opposition parties are competing for people's livelihoods and aiming to restore cooperation after the election."

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