Park Kwang-on, “President Yoon Should Promulgate the Nursing Act and Head Toward Integration”

Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Park Kwang-on speaks in a meeting of the party’s Supreme Council at the National Assembly on May 15. Bak Min-gyu, Senior Reporter

On May 16, Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Park Kwang-on urged President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is contemplating a veto of the Nursing Act, to “gain the trust of the people by promulgating the Nursing Act and head toward a path of integration for the successful administration of state affairs.”

Park made the remark in a meeting to discuss the party’s strategies on the floor at the National Assembly Tuesday and expressed his wish that the first decision by the president as he starts his second year in office does not end up a veto of the bill. President Yoon will decide on the Nursing Act in a cabinet meeting Tuesday morning.

The opposition Democratic Party floor leader said, “The most urgent issue for the Yoon Suk-yeol government now is to secure a new drive for state administration,” and argued that the president’s decision on the veto would determine the direction of state administration between a shift toward national integration and a continuing trend toward national division and conflict.

Park Kwang-on said, “The role of the government and the ruling party is to create social consensus by managing and mediating conflict, not causing division,” and criticized the government and ruling party for not just denying their own pledge but for fueling social chaos by dividing the public, from farmers and laborers and now to nurses, doctors and nursing assistants.

Park said, “The president of the Republic of Korea must be a president of all the citizens,” and argued, “If he exercises another veto, he will further block any progress in the political situation, which is already at a standstill. The result of the cabinet meeting should not be to refuse, but to integrate.”

In a meeting of the Justice Party legislators at the National Assembly Tuesday, Bae Jin-gyo, the party’s floor leader, said, “President Yoon clearly promised to enact the Nursing Act in January 2022, when he was a presidential candidate, and said that the state providing rewards befitting the sacrifice and dedication of the nurses was fair and reasonable.” He then criticized the president for now arguing that the Nursing Act would restrict the rights of the people and for misleading the public to think that nurses were a selfish interest group.

Bae said, “The Justice Party will not simply watch President Yoon break his promise and exercise a veto denying the legislative authority of the National Assembly,” and added, “Today, if he does decide to veto the bill, we will seek reconsideration in the parliamentary session this coming May 25 as stipulated in the National Assembly Act and the Constitution.”