South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue and Lee Jae-myung, leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party, held talks at the presidential palace in Yongsan, Seoul on the afternoon of April 29. This was also the first meeting between Yoon Seok-yue and Lee Jae-myung after taking office as president.
△Screenshot of South Korea's "Central Daily News" website report (the title picture is Lee Jae-myung on the left and Yin Xiyue on the right)
Before the talks started, Lee Jae-myung spent 15 minutes reading a 10-page speech. Among them, Lee Jae-myung made suggestions to Yoon Seok-yue on people's livelihood and political, social, diplomatic and other issues of general concern to all walks of life in South Korea.
Lee Jae-myung said that as the leader of the largest opposition party, he wants to convey the national will reflected in this congressional election to the president, and "hopes that the meeting can be an opportunity to create new hope for the people."
Regarding the medical reform that triggered the collective resignation of South Korean interns and residents, Lee Jae-myung said that if the government and opposition parties and the medical community jointly discuss it, a good solution should be found.
He also expressed regret for Yin Xiyue's exercise of presidential veto power on special bills such as the "Itaewon Special Law" and urged Yin Xiyue to accept relevant bills.
In South Korea’s 22nd parliamentary election held earlier this month, the largest opposition Democratic Party and its satellite parties won a total of 175 seats, while the ruling National Power Party and its satellite parties won 108 seats.
After the ruling party lost the parliamentary election, Yoon Seok-yue stated that he would humbly accept the public opinion reflected in this election, further lower his posture, and communicate more with the people with a more flexible attitude.
△Screenshot of Reuters report
Park Guanghai, a researcher at the Korean Studies Center of the Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed in an interview with China Central Radio and Television Station Global Information Broadcasting that for the ruling National Power Party, this dialogue between the government and the opposition is "forced" . Looking at the issues, the differences and contradictions between the two sides now outweigh the consensus.
In the past two years, the opposition parties have repeatedly requested dialogue between the government and the opposition with the president, but the presidential palace has always refused such dialogue and contact. This meeting between the government and the opposition is a strategy that the ruling party has to carry out in the context of its heavy defeat in the parliamentary election.
The opposition party’s main concerns in this meeting are three points: first, people’s livelihood; second, launching a special prosecution plan for the incident where the president’s wife and a Marine Corps soldier died during flood control; third, demanding changes in the president’s national politics. Operational tone, including some suggestions for restraint on the president’s continued veto power.
The ruling party is now also concerned about improving people's livelihood, which has some similarities with the opposition party, but the two sides have differences in specific areas, methods, and methods to improve people's livelihood. At the same time, the ruling party basically does not accept the suggestions put forward by the opposition parties such as initiating special prosecution laws and restricting the president’s exercise of veto power.
Regarding whether South Korea’s “government-opposition dialogue” can achieve results, Park Guanghae believes that it still remains to be seen. After all, the two sides have great differences on the specific reform directions of many problems. It is still unclear in which specific areas collaborative governance can occur.
Material source丨Global Information Broadcasting "Live World"
Reporters丨Zhang Yun Chen Meng Dong Jingjing
Editors丨Yin Meimei Wang Hongling Yang Nan
Signing and review丨Huang Tao Jiang Aimin
