Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok visited People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok at the National Assembly on Monday for their first meeting since Kim took office, with both leaders expressing a commitment to bipartisan cooperation and pledging to communicate regularly on national affairs.
"I came here thinking we should build a bridge of unbroken dialogue," Kim said. "If there are two people who must keep that line of communication open until the very end, for as long as politics continues, I believe it is Rep. Jang and myself."
He went on to say that beyond simply regularizing dialogue, he hoped the two would communicate "at any time, as often as needed."
Jang welcomed the overture, saying he was grateful that Kim had come "pledging to build a bridge of dialogue at any time." He also urged Kim to join forces with the opposition when checking the administration. "When it is time to serve that oversight function, I ask that you shoulder that responsibility together with us," Jang said.
Jang also raised the controversy surrounding Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae's written recommendation of Supreme Court justices, telling Kim that while "there may be procedural issues, what matters more is the rule of law in this country." He urged Kim, as the ruling party leader, to "play a role on the side of the people on this matter." Jang cited a 2003 precedent in which the late former President Roh Moo-hyun accepted then-Chief Justice Choe Jong-yeong's justice nominations after a dispute over the selection and recommendation process.
Kim said he took Jang's remarks as containing two messages: a call for a political decision, and an acknowledgment that procedural problems had occurred. "We will take that carefully into consideration," he said.
On the government's proposed future response fund, Jang said that if the fund exceeds 100 trillion won ($72.3 billion), it should be subject to the basic controls of the National Finance Act. He also proposed that if surplus tax revenues arise, roughly 50 percent should be set aside for the middle class, low-income households and young people. Kim said he "fully agreed."
On real estate, Jang said recent government announcements appeared to run counter to President Lee Jae Myung's campaign pledges, warning that reversing such commitments could cause "unforeseen harm to the public" and that policy must rest on a consistent foundation. He welcomed an agreement reached Sunday at a senior ruling party-government consultative meeting to expand the range of cases in which non-resident single-homeowners can be recognized as actual residents for tax purposes.
Kim said his approach to real estate would be to "respect the market as much as possible and supplement market failures" rather than relying on taxation, and called for establishing a joint ruling-opposition discussion framework on housing policy.
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