Finally, but belatedly, President Park Geun-hye stepped into the legislative impasse over the special Sewol bill. She called the leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party to Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday to press them to resolve the dispute over the bill and other pending political issues.

The previously unannounced meeting at the presidential office came hours after Park broke her silence on the Sewol bill, which is aimed at probing the cause of the ferry disaster in April that claimed the lives of more than 300 people.

In an address to the weekly Cabinet meeting, Park said that she was opposed to the demand by the opposition and the families of the victims of the sunken ferry that the special panel to be created under the bill be given the right to investigate and indict.

“It is not something that I can determine as the president as it would undermine the separation of powers among the three branches of government and the judiciary system,” Park said.

Park also harshly lashed out at lawmakers who have been keeping the parliament from doing its job for five months. She even mentioned that lawmakers should return their pay because they are not fulfilling their responsibilities.

It maybe that Park wanted to take advantage of the public sentiment, because, as seen in opinion polls, people’s frustration and anger are boiling over at the political deadlock over the Sewol bill and the National Assembly’s inaction.

Indeed, few can dispute what she said about the Sewol bill and the lawmakers getting paid without doing their job. But she came out too late. All the damage has been done, as manifested in the fact that the parliament has not worked on a single bill since May due to the standoff.

Park ignored the demand that she determine the direction of the Sewol bill, and she kept silent even when the opposition rescinded deals with the ruling party twice in the face of protest from the ferry victims’ families. She failed to fulfill her responsibility as a national leader, like the coast guard rescue workers who botched their operations when the Sewol was sinking.

A nation needs an engaging, communicative and decisive chief executive who comes forward and takes charge in a timely and resolute manner whenever there is a crisis.