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| Rep. Hong Young-pyo, right, newly elected floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, talks with Rep. Kim Sung-tae, his counterpart of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party who has been staging a hunger strike since May 3 to call for a special probe into an online opinion rigging scandal, in front of the National Assembly main hall, Seoul, Friday. Hong urged Kim to stop the protest and help normalize an idle Assembly. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun |
By Choi Ha-young
Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), a staunch loyalist to President Moon Jae-in, was elected as the party's floor leader, Friday, and faces the task of getting cooperation from opposition parties in normalizing an idle National Assembly.
The three-term lawmaker received 78 votes out of 116 DPK lawmakers who casted votes, defeating rival candidate Rep. Roh Woong-rae, who gained 38.
"The situation is not easy, but I'll do my best to normalize the Assembly to meet people's expectations," Hong said after the victory. "All parties, both ruling and opposition, are rivals and partners for the future."
The Assembly has been paralyzed for over 40 days due to protests from conservative opposition parties that are demanding a special investigation into an opinion-rigging scandal involving a DPK lawmaker.
Main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) floor leader Kim Sung-tae has staged a hunger strike for nine days, calling for the special probe into the scandal.
Right after the victory, Hong visited a tent in front of the Assembly main hall, where Kim has been protesting since May 3. Hong asked Kim to stop the hunger strike and help normalize the Assembly to pass urgent bills.
With the political bickering over the scandal between the ruling and the opposition blocs, key bills, including an extra budget bill to boost employment, have been put on hold. At the 293-member Assembly, the ruling party holds only 121 seats, and cooperation from the opposition parties is a must in implementing the government's key policies.
The Assembly is also required to approve four lawmakers' resignation by May 14, which is essential to carry out by-elections to replace those who quit their posts to run for the local elections.
Later in the day, Kim stopped his hunger strike due to deteriorating health, not because Hong persuaded him to do so. The two floor leaders have been close since the 19th Assembly when both served on the Environment and Labor Committee.
Hong also urged nonpartisan consensus over Moon's peace overtures, implying his will for parliamentary ratification of the Panmunjeom Declaration adopted at the inter-Korean summit.
"Above all, I will definitely get cooperation from the opposition bloc regarding inter-Korean relations," Hong said. "For this, I will launch a special committee dedicated to enhancing inter-Korean ties, to spur the Assembly's role in envisioned exchange projects between the two Koreas."
Hong, who started his career as a unionist of Daewoo Motors, entered politics as a presidential secretary of former President Roh Moo-hyun. Based on his specialty in labor, Hong has chaired the Environment and Labor Committee since June 2016.
In response to GM Korea's decision to withdraw from Korea, Hong has made efforts for successful negotiation between the car manufacturer and labor union, as a chief of the intraparty taskforce to resolve the conflict.
Meanwhile, the DPK is also set to pick its nominee for the Assembly speaker election slated for May 24. Six-term lawmaker Moon Hee-sang and five-term lawmaker Park Byeong-seug threw their hats into the ring.
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