On the 10th, People Power Party floor leader Song Eon-seok said, "The 100 days of the Lee Jae-myung administration were a time when a foolish monarch threw the world into chaos," adding, "Amid the runaway of a giant ruling party that destroys cooperation, there was nothing but opposition suppression and political retaliation fronted by a political special counsel." Aiming at the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Song said, "Stop the runaway of one-party dictatorship," and, "We will fight against opposition suppression and political retaliation."
◇ Song Eon-seok stresses dictatorship and runaway…criticizes the three special counsels and the four bills to dismantle the prosecution
That morning, floor leader Song delivered the main negotiating bloc address for the September regular session at the National Assembly. In the Democratic Party address the previous day, representative Jeong Cheong-rae stressed settling the issue of insurrection, putting politics back on thin ice.
From the start of his speech, Song used words like "runaway," "suppression," and "dictatorship" to criticize the administration and the ruling party. Song said, "Right now, our National Assembly is filled only with the unilateral runaway and the tyranny of parliamentary dictatorship by the ruling party wielding its majority," adding, "The ruling party leader, at the drop of a hat, brandishes talk of 'dissolution,' intimidating and insulting the opposition with anti-intellectual verbal violence."
He said, "The ruling party is trying to impose a 'party of insurrection' frame to build a one-party dictatorship that destroys the opposition and annihilates conservatives," and urged, "Stop the politics of agitation and intimidation that breeds endless political strife."
Song also criticized the three political special counsels and the four bills to dismantle the prosecution. He said, "The three political special counsels, created and rammed through by the Democratic Party, have degenerated into tools of political retaliation, and the opposition suppression is unending," adding, "This is political violence that happens only in dictatorships and a scheme to annihilate party democracy." He went on, "As if special counsels were not enough, they say they will set up a 'special division for insurrection trials,'" stressing, "It is a clear violation of the Constitution with no constitutional basis."
Song said, "They are saying they will handle the investigations, the trials, and the verdicts themselves—how is that different from a people's court?" adding, "If so, cast off the hypocritical mask of democracy and change your party name to the 'one-man dictatorship party.'"
On dismantling the prosecution, he said, "This is a grave matter that would change Korea's criminal justice system that has been maintained for 76 years since the enactment of the Prosecutors' Office Act in 1949," adding, "As a result of the hasty handling of the law to completely strip the prosecution of investigative authority at the end of the Moon Jae-in administration, capacity to investigate livelihood crimes has plummeted and the time for investigations and trials has been endlessly delayed." He said, "I propose that the Special Committee on Judicial Reform bring the ruling and opposition parties together to put our heads together and continue responsible discussions on prosecution reform."
◇ Debt-laden budget will wreck the finances…let's introduce zero-based budgeting
Song also criticized the Lee Jae-myung administration's economic policy. Regarding the national budget proposal for next year that the government announced on Aug. 29, he said it is "a debt-laden budget that has broken the levee of fiscal soundness," pointing out, "The Moon Jae-in administration opened the era of 1,000 trillion won in national debt, and the Lee Jae-myung administration says it will open the era of 1,800 trillion won in government debt by the end of its term."
He criticized it as "a rapid and irresponsible fiscal runaway that could bring about a collapse of the national finances," adding, "Season 2 of the disastrously failed Moon Jae-in administration's 'income-led growth' is 'debt-led growth.'" Floor leader Song proposed enacting a fiscal soundness law and introducing a "zero-based budgeting system" that re-evaluates from scratch the budget needs of all government fiscal programs.
He also drew a line against the ruling party-led "Yellow Envelope Act" (revisions to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act) and the "stronger Commercial Act" (second revision to the Commercial Act). Floor leader Song said, "The Yellow Envelope Act blocks corporations from filing damage claims over illegal labor disputes and allows hundreds or thousands of subcontractor unions to negotiate directly with the prime contractor," adding, "There is not a single advanced country that, standing one-sidedly with unions like this, condones illegal strikes in the industrial field."
Regarding the "stronger Commercial Act," he said it is "a management-paralyzing law that constantly threatens corporations' management rights," criticizing, "The Yellow Envelope Act and the stronger Commercial Act are, in the end, 'corporation guillotine laws' that say not to do business in Korea."
Floor leader Song also said there are serious problems with the Lee Jae-myung administration's personnel vetting system and the results of the South Korea–U.S. tariff negotiations.
Floor leader Song also called for ruling–opposition cooperation. Citing issues Korea faces such as the growth rate, low birthrate and aging population, pension structural reform, measures to prevent regional extinction, and labor market polarization, he said, "Even if the Democratic Party of Korea restores the ruling party's proper role and the National Assembly functions normally, these tasks are daunting," adding, "The politics the people want is for the ruling and opposition parties to debate and consult through the night and come up with measures on these issues."
He said, "The People Power Party is ready to cooperate and has policy alternatives," adding, "What choice to make depends on the ruling party."