A loud, booming voice bellowed throughout the room in the National Assembly members’ office building in western Seoul. As he spoke with The Korea Herald, switching between fluent English and Korean, Rep. Ihn Yohan of the ruling People Power Party pointed to a Hanja idiom framed and hung on the wall of his office that translates as: “There is no place where more milk and honey flows than Suncheon.” The city of Suncheon, the largest in South Jeolla Province, holds a special place

Politics July 8, 2024

The ruling People Power Party on Tuesday protested the Democratic Party of Korea unilaterally picking the chairs of key standing committees of the National Assembly late Monday. The Democratic Party once again used its majority in the Assembly to convene a plenary session and appoint the chairs of 11 out of the 18 committees without involving the ruling party. Last week, the Democratic Party left out the ruling party in electing the Assembly speaker, marking the first such instance in the histor

Politics June 11, 2024

[코리아헤럴드=조정은· 정민경· 김아린 기자] “국회의원이 선거에서 얻은 득표 중 90~95%는 당원도, 팬덤도 아닌 일반 국민에 의한 것입니다. 장관도 나이 어린 의원에게 ‘존경하는 의원님’이라고 높여 부르는 이유가 있습니다. 의원은 국민의 대표자이기 때문입니다. 22대 국회가 이를 기억하고 국민 눈높이를 최우선으로 두길 바랍니다.” 김진표 국회의장은 21대 국회 마지막 날인 29일 코리아헤럴드와 만나 이렇게 말했다. 김 의장은 진영·팬덤 정치가 국회를 “지지층을 결집시키고 상대당을 악마화하는 선전장으로 전락시켰다”며 국회의원들이 “당심이 아닌 민심을 듣기를 바란다”고 당부했다. 마지막 본회의가 파행으로 끝난 것에 대해 김 의장은 여야가 “대화와 타협 없이 각자의 입장만 고집하며 목숨을 건 싸움의 정치를 하고 있다”고 했다. 그러면서 김

한국어판 May 31, 2024

Article 1 of South Korea’s National Assembly Act states that the parliament is a representative body of the people. However, Kim Jin-pyo, the speaker of the 21st National Assembly and a political heavyweight with 50 years in public service, views the widespread phenomenon of fandom politics as a major obstacle to the country's representative democracy. He believes this trend is the primary cause of increasing political confrontations, which continue to undermine the spirit of compro

Politics May 30, 2024