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New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmakers Eun Su-mi

The confusion and pandemonium in the opposition party reminds us of a ship on the verge of sinking. The New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) is caught up in an overwhelming maelstrom. What began as a debate about a bid to appoint figures from outside the party as co-chairs of the emergency committee is turning into complete chaos as it combines with other long-standing disagreements.

There is even a movement afoot to force the resignation of Park Young-sun, current chair of the emergency committee and floor leader. It is hard to fathom how South Korea’s largest opposition party, with 130 out of the 300 seats in the National Assembly, could have fallen so far.

There can be little doubt that the person who bears the most responsibility for bringing the party to the abyss is Park Young-sun. The floor leader has made three serious mistakes: twice making hasty compromises on the special Sewol Law and then rashly pushing to appoint outside figures as co-chairs of the emergency committee. The consequences were too grave and Park‘s style too high-handed to discount these as simple errors.

The Park Young-sun crisis is overshadowing the arrogance of the ruling Saenuri Party (NFP) and the self-righteousness of the Blue House. Not only that, but Park has suffered such a fatal blow to her leadership that she cannot properly carry out her duties as emergency chair or even floor leader.

With the emergency chair who was elected to save the party from a crisis now facing calls from inside the party for her resignation, the NPAD is in an extremely troublesome position. The party can no longer afford to put off addressing its leadership problem. Considering her reduced influence inside the party, it is unlikely that Park will be able to untie the tangled knot of the special Sewol Law. Not only that, but Park has already lost a great deal of credibility not only with the Saenuri Party but also with the families of the Sewol victims after negotiations between the NPAD and the Saenuri Party broke down on two occasions.

Another reason why the NPAD cannot delay reshuffling its leadership any longer is in order to quickly move forward with the regular session of the National Assembly. As long as the leadership vacuum continues at the NPAD, which represents one pillar of the National Assembly, parliament cannot function normally.

It is only when the NPAD creates a new team to negotiate with the Saenuri Party that the minimum conditions will be put in place to try to reach a new comprehensive compromise on the special Sewol Law and other unresolved issues.

Since Park’s plan to appoint outside figures as co-chairs for the emergency committee has gone up in smoke, appointing other outside figures is probably out of the question. Another option would be to find a chair from inside the party, but this should instead be regarded as an opportunity to consider whether it is even necessary to set up a new emergency committee.

Even if an emergency committee is launched now, it will only be leading the party temporarily until the general meeting is held, and it would not be able to bring about any fundamental reform. Considering that the general session of the National Assembly is ultimately orchestrated by the parties’ floor leaders, one option would be to have all the legislators agree to select a new floor leader who could take charge of the party for the time being.

Of course, Park should not be blamed for all of the problems that the NPAD is facing. The leading figures in the party are just as inept and just as irresponsible. The reality is that the NPAD has been badly shaken by party veterans who are jockeying for leadership of the party and absorbed in the interests of their own factions. The failure of Park’s leadership is one more example of how difficult it is to change the Korean opposition’s current habits and characteristics.

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