It has been confirmed that the People Power Party is holding policy seminars at the level of its member offices to collect public opinion during the legislative process in the National Assembly, at less than half the level of the Democratic Party of Korea. Despite claiming to be a 'policy-oriented party' and 'an effective opposition' in the wake of the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and the loss in the Jun. 3 presidential election, the reality is different. Voices pointing out the lack of interest in policy seminars within the party are also emerging.

Song Eon-seok, the People Power Party Emergency Response Committee Chair and the floor leader, holds a press conference on his inauguration on the 2nd of last month in the morning at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, with the theme 'I will advance with the people's heart as my compass.' From left: Choi Su-jin, Park Seong-hoon, floor spokesperson, Kim Eun-hye, floor policy chief, Yoo Sang-beom, floor operations chief deputy, Chair Song./Courtesy of News1

According to the coverage by ChosunBiz on the 19th, during the 1 year and 2 months from June 1 of last year, when the 22nd National Assembly term began, a total of 2,720 member office seminars were held. Including seminars co-hosted by both parties, member offices belonging to the Democratic Party of Korea held 1,963 seminars, while those of the People Power Party held 920. The Democratic Party of Korea's member offices held 2.1 times as many seminars as the People Power Party. The seat count reflects that the Democratic Party holds 1.5 to 1.6 times as many as the People Power Party.

Member office seminars also serve to strengthen networking with economic and social organizations while gathering public opinion on legislative activities. National Assembly members hold seminars in the form of discussions to identify issues before and after proposing bills and to narrow the gaps in the positions of stakeholders. Major contentious bills, such as amendments to commercial law or the three broadcasting laws, have all been addressed through member office seminars. In this process, a 'public relations battle' to inform the public about the bills also takes place.

The People Power Party has emphasized that it will transform itself into a 'policy-oriented party' to emerge as the opposition party that will oversee the Lee Jae-myung government after handing power over to the Democratic Party. Song Eon-seok, the emergency response committee chairperson and floor leader, presented 'three main activity directions' at a press conference for his appointment as chairperson of the committee last month: ▲ preparing innovation plans to drive change in the party ▲ fulfilling roles of criticism and oversight as the opposition party ▲ becoming an effective policy-oriented party.

However, the number of seminars held by the Democratic Party and the People Power Party has widened since the presidential election. Since Jun. 3, the seminars held by Democratic Party member offices (294 times) were 2.3 times the number of seminars held by People Power Party member offices (126 times). After the presidential election, while the Democratic Party has been strongly pushing for legislative drives on key bills, the People Power Party has not been able to escape internal conflicts such as 'anti-impeachment vs. pro-impeachment'.

Graphic=Jeong Seo-hee

Given the circumstances, voices of reflection on the lack of policy seminars are rising even within the People Power Party. The conservative party has historically possessed a strong 'elite' image, unlike progressive parties centered around activist groups, but if it continues to lack seminars, it may fall behind the large ruling party, the Democratic Party, in terms of policy capability. In particular, as the Democratic Party has created more points of contact with economic organizations, there have been complaints that 'the conservative party cannot manage its supporters.'

Concerns about a lack of seminars have reportedly been raised during general meetings of members. Recently, a senior member stated at a general meeting that 'the party's seminars are insufficient' and encouraged affiliated members to hold seminars more actively.

One member of the People Power Party noted, 'The Democratic Party appears to have activated its seminar count by reflecting it in nominations, while in our party, when seminar discussions arise, a mood forms that says, 'Don't waste energy on unnecessary things.'' He added, 'Overall, while the loss of morale due to martial law and impeachment may have an impact, I worry that we might fall behind the Democratic Party even in terms of content.'

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