Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok promotes ‘practical constitutional amendment’ and emphasizes police reform

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Jae-ha and Jeong Yeon-sol = Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, mentioned the promotion of 'practical constitutional amendments' in a speech as head of the National Assembly negotiating group on the 7th and announced that he would actively push for police reform.

In order to restore people's livelihood, he emphasized support for the Lee Jae-myung administration's major national tasks, while also expressing his will to work on the three major mega projects and rapid housing supply to stabilize the real estate market.

In addition, it emphasized the appearance of a "responsible ruling party" by establishing a horizontal relationship between the party and government and proposing the expansion of a policy consultative body for the People Power Party, the main opposition party.

During Representative Kim's speech, Democratic Party lawmakers applauded a total of 19 times, and People Power Party lawmakers showed no reaction other than laughing or protesting.

◇ “Push for constitutional amendments that are realistic”… Youth policy and police reform

In his speech that day, Representative Kim emphasized the need for a feasible constitutional amendment.

He promoted the inclusion of the full text of the Constitution in the spirit of the May 18 Democratization Movement and the Bu-Ma Uprising as "the starting point of constitutional amendment," and said, "It will be enough to go to the line that the people want" regarding the reorganization of the power structure, where there are significant differences of opinion between the ruling and opposition parties.

In particular, he pressured the opposition party to participate, saying, "Eventually, the People Power Party, which condemned Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, eradicated Hanahoe, and hung a picture of President Kim Young-sam, who made May 18 the identity of the civilian government, will have to choose."

Representative Kim also called for a joint response from the ruling and opposition parties on youth policy and promised, "We will push for the joint attendance of youth committee chairs from the ruling and opposition parties at government meetings related to youth issues."

He also cited police reform as a major task and pledged to eradicate the 'six major evils' of the police by saying, "We will gather all the wisdom to check and improve the efficiency of the investigation of the police, which has emerged as the most powerful force."

◇ “We will fulfill our duties as a responsible party through people’s livelihood, practical use, and expansion.”

Representative Kim, who mentioned people's livelihood a total of 9 times, presented restoration of people's livelihood as the top priority and also revealed his intention to promote three major mega projects and a future response fund.

In particular, CEO Kim defined the mega project as a "project to revive the Republic of Korea" and announced that he would promote an "eight-party consultation" involving the central government, local governments, the National Assembly, local councils, universities, civil society, businesses, and labor to realize efficient human resource management.

Also, regarding the Future Response Fund, which utilizes additional tax revenue resulting from the semiconductor boom, he said, "It will be used for growth and coexistence," and added, "It is the Republic of Korea's mission to prevent the realization of 'Parasite' and 'Snowpiercer', which were reported by Korean films, and to prevent the monopoly of wealth and data by mega-capital powers."

Regarding real estate policy, Representative Kim said that the framework of housing policy itself should be changed along with the expansion of supply, and proposed establishing housing policy governance with the participation of central and local governments, stakeholders, and experts, and public discussion on the promotion of a housing new deal.

Regarding the relationship with companies, he said, "We will develop it into a cooperative relationship between politics and business," and "Following the third revision of the Commercial Act, we will continue to innovate the market system, such as strengthening disclosure and introducing the discovery system."

◇ “US hegemony is decreasing and Korea’s capabilities are increasing”… North Korea suggests peaceful coexistence

In his speech, Representative Kim also emphasized strengthening Korea's independent diplomatic capabilities, saying, "The world that only looks at the United States one-sidedly is over."

In particular, regarding the possibility of a U.S.-North Korea summit, he also mentioned that a 'freeze first and then resolve' approach could be adopted in the North Korean nuclear issue and emphasized, "South Korea's independent security capabilities must be strengthened in advance."

Regarding North Korea's 'two hostile states' theory, he said, "It is difficult to agree with it," but argued, "Rather than completely ignoring the two states theory, we should gather wisdom on how to use it for peaceful coexistence."

Regarding relations with China, he said, "We need to refine our national strategy and will to overcome the whirlwind of fierce competition between the US and China over the next few decades," and with Japan, he suggested a pragmatic approach, saying, "We need to find the wisdom to view Korea-Japan relations from the perspective of protecting the past while also protecting the future."

◇ Party and government present ‘creative horizontal relationship’… “Let’s mix up the seats in the main conference hall”

Regarding party-government relations, Representative Kim mentioned the need for 'creative horizontal relations'.

He listed the government's achievements such as integration of KTX and SRT, reduction of industrial accidents, and rebound in birth rate, but said, "The reality is that there are still various difficulties in people's livelihoods," and "I will become a responsible ruling party that speaks directly to the public's sentiment and provides firm support."

In addition, he presented a political reform agenda, such as strengthening solidarity with progressive and reform political parties and initiating discussions on adjusting the number of negotiating groups, and asked the People Power Party to cooperate by expanding areas of joint discussion such as housing issues and youth issues.

Representative Kim suggested that the seats in the plenary room of the National Assembly be mixed in alphabetical order rather than the existing arrangements by party, and said, "Isn't it worth it to sit together in one part of the plenary room with members of both parties bickering with each other, criticizing members of their own party, and getting serious together?"