[The Editors' Verdict] What We Expect from National Assembly Speaker Park Byeongseok

[Image source=Yonhap News]

원본보기 아이콘

The essence of politics is the regulation of conflict. The diverse interests of society are expressed through politics. The expressed demands go through a legislative process and become institutionalized. Essential in this process are dialogue and compromise. This is because each group has different values and philosophies and exists within different relationships. Therefore, Abraham Lincoln’s words, “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong,” remain true whenever we read them. If dialogue and compromise disappear, politics does not regulate conflict but rather exacerbates it. This is a scene familiar to us.

Politicians, regardless of party, frequently talk about ‘the people’ and ‘reform.’ They shout ‘reform’ in the name of ‘for the people, what the people demand, what the people call for.’ They emphasize a part as if it were the whole, aiming for an optical illusion. They package it stylishly as if it were a magic wand opening a new era. Whether ‘the people truly want it’ or whether it is ‘reform and not deterioration’ is not a core consideration. They place meaning only on the occupancy effect of using that language. It is as if they hypnotize themselves as representatives of the people and pioneers of reform. Otherwise, how could ‘the people’ and ‘reform’ be so polluted? The ‘people’ they speak of are ‘their own people,’ and the ‘reform’ they speak of is ‘their own reform.’ Thus, although we live in one country, we live in two worlds.

The Chinese historian Sima Qian said in Records of the Grand Historian that “the worst politics is politics that quarrels with the people.” In other words, politics that goes against public sentiment should not be done. But now, both ruling and opposition parties seem to be engaging in bad political competition. The ruling party, the Democratic Party of Korea, is blocking out opposition parties and civic groups and pushing through the so-called ‘complete prosecution reform’ bill. They have even set a deadline for the bill’s passage. To do this, they have forced some of their members to leave the party in a ‘player substitution.’ There is no trick like this trick. It is hard to understand pushing through such an important change to the country’s criminal justice system so hastily. It must stop. What about the opposition party, the People Power Party? They are defending Jeong Ho-young, the nominee for Minister of Health and Welfare, amid various controversies such as irregular admissions and military service issues. They say, “There is no illegal matter.” Determining legality is only one part of politics. Moreover, most of it only becomes clear after investigation. The basis of politics is winning hearts, but in the public arena, the evaluation seems already concluded. A decision must be made. Why else would the saying, “The Democratic Party has no democracy, and the People Power Party has no people,” arise?

Amid this, Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok suddenly canceled a scheduled overseas trip. This is an unusual event and is expected to become a major variable in the ‘complete prosecution reform’ political situation. Park, who usually claims to be a parliamentarian and is nicknamed ‘the clever one,’ is drawing attention with his choice. We hope he will be recorded in political history as ‘the Speaker who upheld the spirit of parliamentary democracy through dialogue and compromise to the end.’ We place our hope for political restoration on him.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.