Hong Ihk-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, speaks during a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
A scheduled luncheon between President Lee Jae Myung and leaders of the country's main parties was canceled Thursday, after main opposition People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyeok announced about an hour before the meeting that he would not attend.
The abrupt cancellation of the meeting, which would have been the first of its kind among the three leaders in nearly five months, is likely to worsen bipartisan conflicts over various contentious issues.
Jang said he was boycotting the luncheon in protest of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s (DPK) unilateral passage of two controversial judicial reform bills at the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee the previous evening. The PPP has been a vocal opponent of the measures — one amending the Court Organization Act to expand the number of Supreme Court justices and the other revising the Constitutional Court Act to allow constitutional challenges to court rulings.
Jang accused the ruling party of undermining the spirit of cooperation through what he described as a political ambush.
“I intended to attend the luncheon in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation,” Jang said during a press conference at the National Assembly. “But immediately after proposing the meeting, the DPK unilaterally pushed through bills that even the chief justice of the Supreme Court has expressed serious concerns about.”
Main opposition People Power Party leader Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok speaks at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday, outlining his position regarding his decision not to attend a luncheon with President Lee Jae Myung. Yonhap
He added, “One cannot accept a handshake offered with one hand while concealing a knife in the other."
Jang also questioned whether the presidential office had been aware of the legislative move, saying that if it had not, DPK leader Rep. Jung Chung-rae would effectively be acting as an internal saboteur against the president.
The presidential office expressed “deep regret” over the cancellation.
Source: Korea Times News
