The National Assembly has been going nowhere because of the Private School Law situation for close to two months now. Fortunately the ruling Uri and main opposition Grand National (GNP) parties have a channel for dialogue going and the mood is riper for dialogue than it has been for a long time. Floor leaders Kim Han Gil and Lee Jae Oh have agreed to hold "summit talks" on the summit of Mount Bukhan on January 30. Subsequently people are more hopeful that the ruling and main opposition parties will move away from their consuming disputes and exhibit compromise and joint prosperity. There are rumors that ahead of GNP chairwoman Park Geun Hye's New Year's press conference there were party members suggesting to her that she use the opportunity to declare that the GNP was going to begin participating in Assembly activities again.
When she finally spoke, however, she was very disappointing. She showed no sign of an interest in resolving the impasse. Instead, her speech was a pledge to continue down that path of hard-line struggle. Her position on the Private School Law continues to be about nothing but red-baiting. A warm breeze was blowing on the political landscape for the first time in quite a while, but her stubborn attitude does more than put a damper on that.
Her diagnosis and prescriptions for the whole range of state affairs is diametrically opposed to those expressed by President Roh Moo Hyun in his own New Year's press conference the day before. A strategy of differentiating yourself with the governing party can of course be a natural option for an opposition party. But the problem of socioeconomic disparity originated in the development dictatorships and polices that put growth before all else, and so the suggestion that today's problems should be solve through growth is not very persuasive. Her call for tax cuts is going to be criticized because it would fatten the rich and exacerbate the socioeconomic disparities.
Whatever distinct policy differences there may be, issues can be resolved if the politicians find common ground through dialogue and debate. That, however, is only possible when the National Assembly is open for business. Park needs to make the right decision and bring her party back to the Assembly immediately.
The Hankyoreh, 27 January 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Park Geun Hye's Speech Hurts Inter-Party Dialogue |
