Ruling party reacts to Lee's press conference
'Reaffirmed will for livelihoods, reform, national unity'
'Will complete stable reform as one pillar of governance'
PPP's impeachment talk, outdoor rally called 'shameless political bickering'
Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok said Friday, immediately after President Lee Jae Myung's press conference, that he had been "of the same thoughts and heart as the president throughout." The party pledged to "support real improvements in people's lives through livelihood legislation, policy and the budget in the National Assembly."
Kim made the remarks to reporters at the National Assembly after watching the press conference. "I would like to share a few thoughts after watching it from start to finish," he said. "The party will also listen more humbly and look after people's livelihoods." He left without taking questions after the brief statement.
Democratic Party Chief Spokesperson Park Seong-jun said in a briefing that the press conference was "an occasion for the president to speak candidly and humbly before the people about his thinking on key national affairs." He added that it "reaffirmed President Lee's commitment to livelihoods, reform and national unity."
Park said he agreed with the president's remarks that the gap between improving economic indicators and what people actually feel in their daily lives must be addressed. "We take seriously the president's words that he will adopt an even more humble posture before the people and pay closer attention to their will and their lives," he said.
The party also pledged to "do its utmost, as one pillar of governance, to resolve the pressing livelihood issues piling up and to complete stable reform amid national unity," Park added.
The Democratic Party urged the People Power Party to "fulfill its duties and role as the main opposition party." Party spokesperson Cho Gye-won said PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok had named "impeachment" as his Chuseok gift to the public, and that the PPP was reportedly planning to take the stage on the steps in front of the National Assembly's main building on Tuesday and hold a large-scale outdoor rally.
Cho called it "shameless conduct by the main opposition party, which should be tending to people's livelihoods, once again becoming consumed by political bickering." He urged the PPP to stop clinging to political feuds and focus its energy on fulfilling its role as the main opposition party in the National Assembly and on reviving people's livelihoods, saying that "absurd agitation about putting impeachment on the Chuseok dinner table will not improve people's lives."
The party also called on the PPP to join constitutional reform discussions. Floor Spokesperson Jeon Eun-su criticized the PPP for having "refused to engage in constitutional reform talks altogether by pushing the framing of 'term-extension reform.'" She said the demand that the president promise not to seek an additional term "was nothing more than a political offensive designed to make it look as though he were abandoning a plan that never existed in the first place."
Jeon said the PPP had now "completely lost any justification for opposing constitutional reform." She urged the party to come to the table immediately, warning that continued opposition after the president had spoken so clearly "would be nothing but obstruction for its own sake."
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