Ruling Party: "All In on People's Livelihoods"; Opposition: "Lee, Step Down on Your Own"

[Financial News] After the Chuseok holiday, the ruling and opposition parties identified people's livelihoods as the main topic of conversation around the dinner table. The Democratic Party of Korea promised to swiftly advance legislative initiatives aimed at ensuring that everyone benefits from economic growth, while the People Power Party urged the Lee Jae Myung administration to acknowledge its failures and overhaul its policies. With the two parties sharply divided over solutions to livelihood problems, tensions are expected to continue during next month's parliamentary audits.
Kwon Chil-seung, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea's Policy Committee, held a press briefing at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea that day. "The heaviest message I heard during the Chuseok holiday was, once again, about people's livelihoods," he said. "Exports and economic growth have risen to levels comparable to South Korea's heyday, but it is painful for the government and ruling party that the benefits have not been spread evenly," he explained.
The Democratic Party of Korea adopted a "National Assembly all in on people's livelihoods" as its overarching principle for the regular session. Kwon presented six key policy priorities: reducing the burden of essential living costs such as housing expenses; providing young people with opportunities to build assets; improving the soundness of capital markets; revitalizing local economies; pursuing diplomacy centered on the national interest; and strengthening national security. The party pledged to move ahead with expanding the monthly rent tax credit and supplying 1.19 million housing units, while also working to protect the interests of domestic companies as investment in the United States gets underway in earnest.
Kwon added, "We will do our utmost to ensure that the fruits and benefits of growth are spread evenly and quickly to those who are struggling. Since the policy committees of the ruling and opposition parties have agreed to swiftly legislate around common pledges concerning people's livelihoods, we will move quickly on issues that can be addressed first."
He also addressed political issues, including a dispute between Cheong Wa Dae and the Supreme Court of Korea over Supreme Court justice appointments, as well as the unsuccessful nominations of ministerial candidates Kim Seung-won and Yong Hye-in. Park Seong-jun, the Democratic Party of Korea's chief spokesperson, said, "There were voices saying that Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae was pursuing the path of a politician rather than a legal professional. There was criticism that his backstabbing was unbecoming of a chief justice and contrary to basic human decency." He added, "Many citizens expressed concern about the ministerial appointments and called for the political situation to be stabilized through swift appointments after the return home."
People Power Party Chairman Jang Dong-hyuk offered the opposite interpretation. At a press conference held the same day, Jang said, "If summed up in one phrase, Chuseok public sentiment is a hair-trigger situation. More than a few people said they would rather he had not come after seeing news that the president had gone to the United States."
He sharply criticized the government's comprehensive farmland survey in particular. Jang said, "They were furious, saying they had spent their entire lives farming and working hard, only to be suddenly branded as speculators by the president. I urge the government to immediately halt the comprehensive farmland survey and forced sales, and first seek measures to raise farm incomes and foster young farmers."
Jang also criticized the government's housing policy, a weak point for the government and ruling party. He said, "They had been saving money bit by bit, living comfortably even in a jeonse rental, and dreaming of working a little harder to buy a home. But they say it became a real estate hell in just a year and a half under the Lee Jae Myung administration. The peak moving season is approaching, and a crisis in jeonse and monthly rentals is all but certain. President Lee, please come to your senses."
He also targeted national security issues that became controversial during the holiday, including a suspected landmine incident in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the repatriation of North Korean military prisoners. Regarding the delayed start of the on-site investigation in the DMZ, Jang argued, "If President Lee deliberately delayed the on-site investigation, it was an obvious act of aiding the enemy and constitutes a crime of treason against a foreign power, which falls outside presidential immunity from prosecution. It is a crime warranting not only impeachment but also immediate arrest and trial." Regarding the nonpublic repatriation of North Korean military prisoners, which became known through Ukraine, he said, "They tried to hide something that did not need to be hidden. If they focus solely on protecting Kim Jong Un's feelings, the people will bring the president down. If you have no intention of standing up to Kim Jong Un and protecting the country and its people, I ask you to step down from the presidency of your own accord even now."
[email protected] Lee Hae-ram, Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter