Kim Chong-in, “What’s the meaning of suddenly reducing the number of legislators?”

Kim Chong-in (Kim Jong-in), former chairman of the People Power Party’s (PPP) emergency committee. Yonhap News

On June 22, Kim Chong-in (Kim Jong-in), former chief of the People Power Party’s (PPP) emergency committee said, “I have no idea why People Power Party leader Kim Gi-hyeon suddenly mentioned reducing the number of legislators by 10% in his speech,” and argued that the PPP leader should right the attitudes of the politicians, which is the root of the problem, and asked what cutting the number of seats in parliament by 10% had to do with people’s lives.

Kim appeared on Kim Tae-hyun’s Political Show on SBS radio Thursday and said, “The number of legislators in our country is not that big compared to other countries,” and criticized, “The people are frustrated because the National Assembly is not doing its job properly, which is why some voices complained we should reduce their numbers. But he shouldn’t judge the political situation with the survey results.” He also said, “Essentially, he should start by correcting the attitudes of the politicians. Instead, he suddenly said he would cut the number of seats in parliament by 10% because he didn’t have anything else to say. But what does that have to do with people's lives?”

The former chief of the PPP emergency committee also spoke on the introduction of a no-work, no-wage policy and said, “A politician took the result of a general public survey that claimed we should not give lawmakers their activity allowance since the National Assembly couldn’t function properly, and mentioned it as if it were some great idea.” He added, “It is the most childish way of thinking in politics.”

Earlier on June 20, when making a speech as the representative of a negotiation group at the National Assembly, PPP leader Kim Gi-hyeon said, “The National Assembly can function smoothly even if we reduce the number of legislators by 10%. All we have to do is work hard with the time spent on starting absurd political strife and scheming populist pledges,” and called for a reduction of parliamentary seats. The ruling PPP leader also said, “It is common sense that one does not get paid wages if he does not show up for work and do the work,” proposing to introduce a no-work, no-wage policy for legislators.

On the radio show Thursday, Kim Chong-in also spoke about the possibility of a new third party, separate from the two major parties. He said, “I think South Korea has a future only if a new political power slightly different from existing political powers appears.” He argued, “I don’t think the argument holds if you vaguely insist that it won’t work since a third party has never succeeded in the past.” Reportedly, Kim Chong-in is currently helping former Democratic Party of Korea legislator Keum Tae-sup establish a new party.

Kim said the president and the ruling PPP was mainly responsible for the difficulties in cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties. He said, “They claim that they can’t solve problems because the opposition party isn’t cooperating, but I haven’t seen what attempts the president or the PPP has made to resolve the problems,” and added, “The opposition party is a party that exists literally to oppose them, and it doesn’t make sense for them to expect the opposition party to voluntarily cooperate with the government.”