Democrats Urge Promulgation of Labor Union and Broadcasting Laws... "Stop Overusing Veto Power"

Democratic Party Holds Party Meeting Urging Prompt Enactment of Labor Union and Broadcasting Laws
"Yoon, Stop Overusing Veto Power" Picketing Performance
Hong Ik-pyo: "Politics Is About Promises, Nursing Act to Be Re-promoted"

The Democratic Party of Korea urged President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 23rd to promulgate the 'Yellow Envelope Act' and the 'Broadcasting Three Acts.'

On the same day, the Democratic Party held a party meeting at the National Assembly and read a resolution urging the promulgation of the amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, commonly called the 'Yellow Envelope Act,' and the Broadcasting Three Acts (amendments to the Broadcasting Act, the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act, and the Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act). Earlier, the Democratic Party had forcibly passed these two bills at the plenary session of the National Assembly held on the 9th. At that time, the People Power Party protested the vote by walking out en masse.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, along with other lawmakers, is urging the promulgation of the Labor Union Act and the Three Broadcasting Laws at a party caucus held at the National Assembly on the 23rd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Democratic Party lawmakers, including leader Lee Jae-myung, held placards in the meeting room that read, "Stop President Yoon Seok-yeol's excessive use of veto power!" and "President Yoon Seok-yeol, immediately promulgate the Labor Union Act and Broadcasting Three Acts!" as they performed a demonstration urging the promulgation of the bills.

In the resolution read by Lee Su-jin, the Democratic Party's Environment and Labor Committee secretary, and Cho Seung-rae, the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee secretary, the party criticized, "There is no sign that the arrogance, dogmatism, incompetence, and irresponsibility of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration will improve," adding, "They deceive the public by only talking about communication with public sentiment but making no effort, showing a 'say one thing, do another' attitude."

They continued, "If President Yoon Seok-yeol's pledge to humbly accept public sentiment and communicate with the people is not empty words, the practice must begin with respecting the legislative authority of the National Assembly and the opposition party," and criticized, "By exercising veto power without justifiable reasons, he has made himself a provocateur of political strife, damaging the dignity expected of a national leader and hurting the hearts of farmers, nurses, and the public."

Representative Cho Seung-rae emphasized, "The amended Labor Union Act is a law intended to prevent tragedies where workers and their families lose their lives and to transition to coexistence, and the Broadcasting Three Acts are institutional measures to guarantee the freedom of the press protected by the Constitution and to prevent unjust interference and privatization by power," adding, "If the president is not representing only certain interest groups and trying to control the media, there is neither reason nor justification to exercise veto power."

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the party meeting held at the National Assembly on the 23rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The Democratic Party also announced plans to 're-push' the Nursing Act and other related bills on which President Yoon exercised his veto power. Floor leader Hong Ik-pyo said, "I attended the 100th anniversary event of the Korean Nurses Association today, and the core reason politics is being ignored by the public is the failure to keep promises," adding, "Keeping promises is justice, and that is the essence of politics." He continued, "We will re-push various related bills, including the Nursing Act, and if we steadily keep our promises to the public, I believe we will surely be evaluated by the people in next year's general election."

Meanwhile, Go Young-in, the Democratic Party secretary of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, reintroduced the Nursing Act bill the day before. The Nursing Act bill, which includes provisions to improve nurses' duties and working conditions, passed the plenary session of the National Assembly in April but was vetoed by President Yoon due to opposition from the medical community, including the Korean Medical Association. The reintroduced Nursing Act bill reflects some revisions, such as changing the phrase "local community" in Article 1, which the Medical Association pointed out as a possibility for nurses to open clinics independently, to "various fields where nursing personnel work, such as health care institutions, schools, industrial sites, home care, and various social welfare facilities."

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