Leaders of ruling, main opposition parties agree to form joint consultative body on livelihood policies

Sep 02, 2024, 10:34 am

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Han Dong-hoon, leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), and Lee Jae-myung, chief of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), greet ahead of their first official talks at the National Assembly on Sep. 1, 2024./ Photographed by Song Eui-joo

AsiaToday reporter Woo Seung-joon

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) Chair Han Dong-hon and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Sunday agreed to form a joint consultative body to discuss matters concerning people’s livelihoods. However, they failed to reach an agreement on the bill that mandates a special counsel probe into a young Marine’s death and the issue of deferring the adoption of the medical school quota increase.

The leaders of rival parties agreed to launch a special consultative body to improve the livelihoods of the people, review issues tied to the financial investment tax policy and urge the government to establish an emergency medical system for the upcoming Chuseok holiday, the spokesmen for the two parties said in a briefing.

The leaders also agreed to discuss ways to enhance support for semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and discuss ways to ease debt burdens for smaller businesses and households. As part of efforts to tackle the low birthrate, the parties will speed up the legislative process to expand maternity leave for working parents, and quickly implement measures to address, penalize and prevent sexual crimes involving deepfakes. They also plan to consult on introducing a district party system to revitalize party politics.

The two leaders failed to reach agreement on a special counsel probe into a young Marine’s death and the conflict between the government and the medical community. On the investigation into the death of a Marine, Lee apparently expressed willingness to accept the PPP-proposed “third party” appointment of a special counsel to look into the case, but Han said discussions within the party were still ongoing. They also reportedly failed to reach an agreement on the medical vacancy caused by the conflict between the government and doctors.

In their opening remarks, Han stressed the need to “abolish financial investment income tax” while Lee stressed the need for a special investigation into a Marine’ death. “We need to build a ladder to form asset more and easier with value-up policies of capital markets,” Han said. “That’s why the People Power Party is focusing on abolishing the financial investment income tax.” Meanwhile, Lee urged Han to make a decision on the independent counsel investigation into the case.

#PPP #Han Dong-hoon #DP #Lee Jae-myung