The Rebuilding Korea Party urged the Lee Jae-myung government to restore trust in its reform agenda, saying signs of defection are emerging among voters in the Honam region and liberal reform supporters who backed the change of government. The party assessed that the administration's support base is weakening as expectations for livelihood and reform achievements have turned into disappointment. The party also said it would cooperate with the government and ruling party where possible, but would actively check them if principles waver on prosecution and judicial reform.
Kim Joon-hyung, floor leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, said at a press briefing on public sentiment during the Chuseok holiday held at the National Assembly on the 27th that "public sentiment this Chuseok was not ordinary." He added, "I do not think expectations for the government have disappeared. Rather, because people want it to truly succeed, they were more worried about the current trend."
The party said the decline in the Lee government's approval rating should be taken as a warning sign of a loosening support base. "The approval rating, which had reached 60% right before the local elections, has come down to the 30% range in just four months," Kim said. "Especially among Honam voters and liberal reform supporters who helped bring about the change of government, I heard many say, 'Isn't this government drifting away little by little from the one we hoped for?' and 'Isn't the direction of reform blurring and the momentum weakening?'"
Kim called for restoring trust in the direction of reform before pursuing short-term results as a way to revive the government's approval rating. Responding to criticism from parts of the Democratic Party that the liberal camp's criticism of the government is excessive, Kim said, "We are not asking for something finished, we are saying let's go in this direction." He added, "Rather than immediate results, trust in the direction of reform must be restored." He also said, "I think it is valid criticism," stressing, "I hope a government with power will practice big politics by accepting it with an open mind."
The party offered a different assessment of President Lee's recent remarks that the pace of reform should be moderated. "The president's point that restraint is needed because reform that moves too fast, too far and too hastily can invite backlash is right in principle," Kim said. "But I think our actual situation is that excessive restraint and self-censorship are instead allowing a wave of backlash to try to run reform aground."
On prosecution reform, the party pressed the government, saying that not only a substantive separation of investigation and indictment but also personnel and organizational renewal must be achieved. "Many said, isn't only the sign being changed while the people and organizational culture remain the same, and won't former prosecutors end up occupying the core positions after all," Kim said. "It is right for Kim Ji-yong, the nominee to head the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, to have his appointment withdrawn or to resign." He stressed, "Real reform means properly changing the people and the organizational culture as well."
To prevent a split in the broader liberal reform camp, Kim said the Democratic Party and his party must cooperate on livelihood and reform tasks even while competing. "Along with internal division in the ruling party, there was also great concern about politics that divides the broader liberal camp and allied parties that fought together for the change of government," he said. "There was a clear demand that we must cooperate more broadly for livelihood and reform even while competing."
On calls from within the Democratic Party for a merger or alliance between the two parties, Kim said, "There has been no substantive discussion." He said, "Apart from talk or phone calls about meeting substantively on this issue, we have never once met separately to discuss it," calling it "regrettable." He added, "If they are sincere about a merger, it would be better not to do this," stressing, "We cannot help but suspect that our meeting could be used politically. I hope there is no such media play."
On livelihood issues, Kim called for improvements in economic indicators to translate into a real recovery in people's lives. "There were voices asking why my life stays the same when the economy is said to be improving," he said. "What the people are waiting for is not a recovery in statistics but a recovery in their own lives." On farmland, real estate and financial policy, he said, "The demand on the ground was that the more a policy directly affects people's property and lives, the more it should be examined sufficiently from the start and made properly."
The party said it would continue to act as an "icebreaker," cooperating for the government's success while speaking out actively against any retreat from reform. "We will cooperate broadly on matters that call for cooperation," Kim said, while adding, "When the principles of reform waver, we will clearly sound the alarm." He stressed, "If the path of reform is blocked, we will be the icebreaker that first breaks the ice."
