Jung Chung-rae Says, "If Administrative Integration Fails, the People Power Party Bears 200% of the Responsibility"

[The Financial News] On the 4th, Jung Chung-rae, party leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), pressed the People Power Party (PPP) to cooperate in passing special administrative integration bills for Daegu–Gyeongbuk (TK) and Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province.
At the Supreme Council meeting that day, Jung declared, "The People Power Party must not block the opportunity for a grand transformation of the Republic of Korea through integration of TK and Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province," adding, "If administrative integration falls through, the People Power Party will bear 200% of the responsibility."
Initially, the ruling and opposition parties reached an agreement in the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on integration bills for the Gwangju–South Jeolla region, TK, and Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province. However, during deliberations at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly, opposition emerged within the People Power Party to the TK and Daejeon–South Chungcheong integration plans, and only the Gwangju–South Jeolla integration bill cleared the parliamentary hurdle. Afterwards, amid backlash from TK lawmakers, the People Power Party settled on supporting only the TK integration bill. In response, the DPK demanded that the party also accept the Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province integration bill.
Jung criticized, "The People Power Party suddenly claims to support TK integration and throws a tantrum demanding that the Legislation and Judiciary Committee be convened, yet when we say the Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province integration bill should be handled together, they insist that is unacceptable," and asked, "Is this regional discrimination, or just a contrarian attitude?"
He went on to say, "The Lee Jae-myung administration has pledged fiscal support of up to 20 trillion won over four years for the newly established Integrated Special City," emphasizing, "Integration will open up opportunities and lead to greater prosperity."
The DPK maintains that it can move forward with the TK integration bill only if the People Power Party also accepts the Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province integration bill.
After the Supreme Council meeting, chief spokesperson Park Su-hyeon told reporters, "Considering the need to sustain momentum for integration going forward, at a minimum these bills must be passed through bipartisan agreement; separate handling or unilateral passage by the DPK would not be appropriate," and urged, "We call on the People Power Party to form a clear party line of full support, with no objections, for both the Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province and the Daegu–Gyeongbuk integration bills."

uknow@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Yun-ho Reporter