The opposition Democratic Party’s (DP) leading lawmakers and members discussed the “New Democratic Party Plan” at their headquarters in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo district on May 19. In the hearing, some members defended the new party platform, referring to it as a new “third way” to tie together the progressive and central factions, but others criticized it for going to far centrist. This was the DP’s first hearing on it new platform.

During his keynote speech, Kim hyo-seok, the head of DP’s Policy Institute and the one responsible for drafting the new platform, complained about the unjust evaluation of the “New DP Plan,” said, “I am very sad when I hear that the new platform could change the DP into another Grand National Party.” He added, “The new platform contains the values of opportunity, justice, and community the GNP cannot realize. The ‘inclusive growth’ articulated in the new platform differs from GNP’s ‘quantitative growth’ because ‘inclusive growth’ is a growth policy that distributes the fruits of growth evenly among us all.” To observers, his remarks seemed to protest against evaluations of the platform that have been issued from inside and outside the DP.

Many lawmakers and members asked for further clarity on the “identity of the DP.” Lawmaker Lee Jong-gul who has asked that the identity of the DP reflect a “stronger opposition party” said, “This platform could place the DP into a position that is closer to the GNP’s. The new platform may create a concern about the rightward leanings of the DP.” He also said, “The new platform is meaningless because there is no reflection about the period of DP’s seizure of power or about confusion within the DP since the Lee administration’s inauguration.”

With approximately 30 lawmakers out of 84 lawmakers in the DP present, and with 10 people offering opinions publicly during the hearing, the heat of hearing was milder than anticipated. Chairman Chung Sye-kyun said in his congratulatory speech, “The platform is just beginning to be concretized and it needs further participation and discussion.” Public hearings will continue to be held in each region, including the Gyeonngi Province, Incheon, Gangwon Province, until June 9.

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