President Park Geun-hye agreed on Friday to meet with the key political party leaders on a regular basis, a move aimed to start on a cooperative note with the new National Assembly.

As for controversial agendas such as the toxic humidifier disinfectant investigation and the legislation of the Sewol special act, Park said that parties should reach a consensus among themselves. But they also agreed to establish a pan-partisan consultation committee on the humidifier disinfectant case if necessary.

“The president and the floor leadership of the three parties agreed to hold a president-party leader meeting every quarter,” senior presidential secretary for public affairs Kim Sung-woo told reporters.

“She also requested that the economic deputy prime minister and the party policy chiefs soon hold a meeting to inspect the nation’s economic situations.”
 

The consensus was reached during Park’s rare 82-minute meeting with the floor leaders and policy chief of the top three parties. The occasion was also her first official encounter with members of the incoming 20th National Assembly since the April 13 general election.

Representing the ruling conservative Saenuri Party on this day was its floor leader Chung Jin-suk. From The Minjoo Party of Korea and the People’s Party, Reps. Woo Sang-ho and Park Jie-won were present. All three were respectively accompanied by their policy committee chiefs.

It was due to the current vacancies of formal leadership in the Saenuri and Minjoo parties that the presidential office decided to first invite the floor leaders and policy committee chairmen. The two parties, currently steered by interim chiefs, are slated to elect new leadership in their upcoming national convention.

“It was the People‘s Party’s Rep. Park Jie-won who suggested the regular meeting with the party chiefs, after all three parties confirm their new leadership,” said a senior Cheong Wa Dae official.

“The president consented, adding that the frequency could be increased (from once a quarter) if necessary.”

Park has often faced criticism about lacking communication with the parliament. Since taking office in February 2013, she has so far held six meetings with party leaderships, only one of them including floor leaders.

The meeting kicked off in an amicable mood, with the president greeting and shaking hands with each party official. She first shook hands with main opposition whip Rep. Woo, before reaching out to her home party whip Chung.

But the opposition bloc, while acknowledging the positive outcome of the meeting, also pointed out its limits.

“President Park has achieved meaningful results in her recent state visit to Iran but has shown little progress on (domestic) issues such as the revision of the Sewol act,” Woo said in a briefing to sum up the presidential meeting.

Park urged that parties should first reach a consensus among themselves on whether to revise the controversial Sewol act or to set up a parliamentary task force on humidifier disinfectant case, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)