Former President Park Geun-hye (centre) speaks with Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok (right), chair of the main opposition People Power Party, during a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Thursday. - Photo: Yonhap
SEOUL: Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, chair of the main Opposition People Power Party, ended his hunger strike Thursday (Jan 22) following a meeting with former President Park Geun-hye, who visited the National Assembly in a rare public appearance.
Park served as chair of the People Power Party’s predecessors before taking office as president in 2013. She was ousted in 2017 following a scandal involving her close confidant's meddling in state affairs.
Even after her removal, Park — the daughter of Park Chung-hee, the military strongman who seized power through a coup in 1963 and ruled for 16 years — has remained a symbolic figure within the conservative bloc, largely due to her father’s role in South Korea’s industrial development in the 1960s and 1970s.
“There may be many more difficulties ahead,” Park said during the meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul. “For the sake of the future, I hope you will stop the hunger strike today and focus on restoring your health.”
“I hope you will promise here today to end the hunger strike,” she added. Jang accepted the request and agreed to halt the protest.
Jang had been on hunger strike since Jan 15 in opposition to a ruling bloc-backed bill passed earlier this month establishing another round of special counsel probes into former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his Dec 3, 2024, martial law declaration, as well as his wife, Kim Keon Hee.
Jang instead called for separate investigations into allegations involving the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, including claims of illicit political funds linked to the Unification Church and alleged nomination irregularities involving party lawmakers.
Park criticised the lack of response from the presidential office and the ruling party, saying it ran counter to basic political norms.
“Despite Rep. Jang’s hunger strike, there was no response at all. I do not believe this is acceptable in terms of political propriety,” she said.
Addressing criticism that the hunger strike yielded no tangible results, Park rejected such an assessment.
“Some may say that because the ruling party did not accept the special counsel probes related to the Unification Church and nomination irregularities, this hunger strike achieved nothing,” she said. “But that is absolutely not the case.”
During the hunger strike, ruling party nor government officials visited Jang. It was only after Jang was hospitalised following the end of the hunger strike that Hong Ihk-pyo, the newly appointed senior presidential secretary for political affairs, visited the People Power Party.
“The special counsel bills demanded by the opposition are matters that should be handled at the National Assembly,” Hong said during a meeting with Rep. Song Eon-seog, the People Power Party’s floor leader.
Hong added that he had initially planned to visit Jang during the hunger strike on Thursday but was unable to do so because Jang had already halted the protest.
Meanwhile, the hunger strike raised the prospect of broader conservative coordination ahead of the local elections scheduled for June.
On Wednesday, Rep. Lee Jun-seok, leader of the minor opposition Reform Party, visited Jang after cutting short an overseas parliamentary diplomacy trip to Mexico and Guatemala and cancelling a planned visit to the US in order to return to Seoul for the meeting.
During the meeting, Rep. Lee and Jang agreed to coordinate against the ruling bloc and to push for special counsel probes targeting the Democratic Party — though Lee later denied that such coordination would lead to a party merger.
The ruling Democratic Party, meanwhile, launched a more aggressive push for forming a united progressive front for the local election.
On Thursday, Rep. Jung Chung-rae, chair of the Democratic Party, proposed a merger with the minor left-leaning Rebuilding Korea Party led by Cho Kuk, who served as justice minister under former President Moon Jae-in, when the Democratic Party was in power.
“We overcame the Dec 3 martial law crisis together and fought the presidential election together to bring the Lee Jae Myung government into power,” Jung said.
Jung, who is also widely seen as a close associate of former President Moon Jae-in, made the remarks during a press conference earlier in the day. “I hope we can also contest the June 3 local elections together,” he added.
Following Jung's proposal, Cho said a decision would be made after internal discussions at the party’s decision-making body.
However, the proposal sparked backlash within the Democratic Party.
Rep. Mo Gyeong-jong, a first-term Democratic Party lawmaker, wrote on Facebook that “a merger should proceed only after confirming the views of party members,” adding that “the party leadership should first listen to voices within its own ranks.”
Rep. Park Soo-hyun, a second-term lawmaker and senior Democratic Party spokesperson, said he could not disclose whether consultations had taken place with Cheong Wa Dae regarding the proposed merger.
Cheong Wa Dae also said it had nothing to say on internal party affairs. - The Korea Herald/ANN
