Han Byeong-do, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, took direct aim at People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk, saying he "should step down from his post." Han argued that the opposition leadership is not only failing to rein in verbal abuse and stunts by its lawmakers but is actively encouraging them.
"If the water upstream is muddy, the water downstream cannot be clear," Han said at a Democratic Party meeting on parliamentary audit strategy held at the National Assembly on the 15th. "Throughout the parliamentary audit period, it has been a waste of time just pointing out the People Power Party's verbal abuse and antics," he said. "The People Power Party must bow its head and apologize before the public for insulting a president elected by the people with baseless claims and even exploiting an accident that caused casualties for political strife."
Han also stressed that Jang has been egging on excessive remarks by his party's lawmakers. "Chairman Jang disparaged the president's official schedule for opening the Arctic shipping route and relocating HMM to Busan, and even leveled far-fetched criticism that his visit to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency was merely for show," he said. "After People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo exploited an accident involving casualties as material for political strife, this time the party leader, who should be preventing such behavior, has stepped in himself."
He also raised the fact that the People Power Party did not take part in the "Resolution Condemning North Korea's Land Mine Provocation" adopted by the National Assembly's National Defense Committee the previous day. "People Power Party members of the committee insisted on a parliamentary fact-finding inquiry into our military's failure to prevent the provocation and its delayed investigation, and boycotted the vote on the resolution," Han said. "It is truly absurd. Does it make any sense to hold our own military, the victim, responsible in a resolution condemning North Korea?"
Of Lim Kwang-hyun, the newly appointed presidential chief of staff, Han said he is "a talent whose competence has been proven in both the government and the National Assembly." He added: "As the first commissioner of the National Tax Service under the Lee Jae-myung administration, he took the lead in resolving the problem of habitual large-scale tax delinquency and demonstrated outstanding drive in carrying out his duties. With the administration entering its second year and the need to accelerate the realization of its policy agenda, I believe the right person has been appointed."