Democratic Party goes beyond the limits

The Democratic Party's move has only ended up worsening political conflict. The damage only impacts the people.

The Democratic Party (DP) railroaded a motion calling for the dismissal of Foreign Minister Park Jin over liability in the recent presidential visits the party called a “diplomatic disaster.” There had been only seven legislative motions to kick out an active cabinet minister since the foundation of the Assembly in 1948 — and three motions since the amendment of the Constitution in 1987.

It had been a bipartisan rule to be discreet in submitting a legislative motion to oust a cabinet member since the grounds should be so strong that most people can agree to it. The DP has ignored the common rule to pass the motion with overwhelming majority seats.

The DP claimed that Minister Park must take responsibility for the “disastrous” outcomes from the recent overseas trip by President Yoon Suk-yeol. In his visit to London, Yoon could not attend to the funeral of Elizabeth II due to a traffic jam, only managed to squeeze in a 48-second tête-à-tête with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, and had an allegedly humiliating 30-minute talk with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the city. The hot-mic scandal made matters worse.

The blunders could be criticized by the DP. But whether they were really serious enough to dismiss a foreign minister is disputable. During her visit to Seoul last week, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said that Washington was not “bothered at all” by the controversy about Yoon’s hot-mic moment after his meeting with Biden in New York. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida also said he felt the Korean president has the will to improve bilateral ties. Those leaders would not have made such positive comments if Yoon’s overseas trip had been “disastrous.”

The country faces a crisis with the U.S. dollar exchange and interest rates running at decades-high levels, not to mention inflation. The DP certainly abused its majority seats for self interests by neglecting urgent issues and politicizing diplomatic matter. Though the motion was passed, President Yoon didn’t approve it. The DP’s move has only ended up worsening political conflict. The damage only impacts the people. We also hope the president puts an end to the controversy and devotes himself to tackling the plethora of challenges the country faces.