Jang Dong-hyeok lashes out at Lee over 'Busan Special Act' criticism: "How dare he"

[Financial News] After President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea criticized the "Busan Global Hub City Special Act (Busan Global Hub City Special Act)" as a "populist piece of legislation initiated by lawmakers," the PPP hit back on the 2nd. The party used the phrase "how dare he" and argued, "There are even suspicions that this is a prearranged election strategy to pretend to reluctantly accept the bill right before the election while actually trying to boost Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker Jeon Jae-su."
Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the People Power Party (PPP), said at the supreme council meeting held at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea that day, "The Busan Global Hub City Special Act is a bill that both the ruling and opposition parties deliberated on together and introduced, and one that the government also agreed with."
He argued, "If he had taken even a slightly deeper look at the reality of Busan Metropolitan City, which urgently needs extraordinary support, he would never have dared to talk about populism in front of the citizens of Busan." He went on, "It is not the Busan Global Hub City Special Act that is populist; the real populism is this supplementary budget."
Parliamentary leader Song Eon-seok said, "When I heard President Lee say that 'there are cases where legislation initiated by lawmakers is carried out in a populist manner,' I wondered if he was finally beginning some self-reflection." He countered, "The prime example of populist legislation initiated by lawmakers is the Yellow Envelope Law, which amends Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act."
Song, the parliamentary leader, also protested, saying, "The amendment to the Local Finance Act that passed the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea last October, the so-called cash handout law that eased the conditions for issuing local bonds in order to distribute consumption coupons for livelihood recovery, is exactly the kind of populist lawmaker-initiated legislation President Lee is talking about."
He further stated, "It is hard to understand the bizarre behavior of President Lee, who is the very embodiment of populism, as he only pushes ahead with the Jeonnam–Gwangju administrative integration while completely blocking the Daegu–North Gyeongsang administrative integration, and then talks about populism to hold back the Busan Global Hub City Special Act." He added, "The Minjoo Party of Korea should stop throwing the citizens of Busan Metropolitan City into confusion and should instead adopt the Busan Global Hub City Special Act as its official party platform."
haeram@fnnews.com Lee Hae-ram Reporter