hankyoreh

Members of various civic groups take part in a candlelight protest calling for a special prosecutor to be assigned to investigate first lady Kim Keon-hee and for President Yoon Suk-yeol to resign outside City Hall Station in downtown Seoul on the afternoon of Oct. 22. (Yonhap)

A large rally was held in downtown Seoul over the weekend.

At 4 pm on Saturday, a coalition of progressive groups called Action for Transition to a Candlelight Victory (Candlelight Action) kicked off a “candlelight march” near City Hall Station in Seoul to call for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to step down and for a special prosecutor to be named to investigate first lady Kim Keon-hee.

While conservative groups held a competing rally about 100 meters away, chanting for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung to be “locked up,” the fact that a large protest denouncing the government has been held less than six months after Yoon took office should be taken seriously.

This candlelight rally was much bigger than the string of smaller rallies that had come before it. The police estimated that about 15,000 people were taking part by 5 pm — more than double the 7,000 people they had originally expected. The organizers claimed that 300,000-400,000 people showed up.

Public distrust and dissatisfaction with the Yoon administration have increased, with polls by Gallup Korea showing the president’s approval rating remaining below 30% for five consecutive weeks. And now a spate of political investigations launched by the prosecution service seems to have intensified pushback from the public.

Candlelight Action announced that it would hold another large rally on Nov. 19. As conservative organizations coordinate a counterprotest of their own, it’s possible that the focus of politics will shift to street demonstrations.

Even so, we must prevent politics from malfunctioning and keep the situation from moving toward an extreme showdown. The economic situation continues to get worse. Right now, the government and the National Assembly need to be taking care of pressing Main Street issues.

A special economic committee for public livelihood and economic stability that was set up by the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the opposition Democratic Party to discuss urgent bills will cease its operations on Oct. 31. That doesn’t leave much time to discuss a bill that would link suppliers’ prices to the cost of raw materials and another that would extend a sunset provision for the “safe fare system.”

In addition to that, the National Assembly will soon need to deal with next year’s budget. After Yoon delivers a speech about the 2023 budget to the National Assembly on Oct. 25, the National Assembly will have to debate and pass the budget bill and any supplementary measures by Dec. 2.

Park Hong-keun, floor leader for the Democratic Party, called for Yoon to apologize for undermining the National Assembly and oppressing the opposition in a press conference on Sunday. “We will never allow a budget speech unless he does something to restore confidence,” Park said.

“We hope the National Assembly will act prudently given the financial difficulties facing the public,” the presidential office said in response.

If the Democratic Party follows through on its threat to boycott Yoon’s speech, the showdown is likely to grow even more intense. That might not only prevent the passage of public livelihood bills but also keep the budget from being properly debated. That wouldn’t serve anyone’s interests.

Both the PPP and the Democratic Party need to make some tough choices to ensure that politics isn’t disrupted by the ongoing investigations. And the government and the PPP ought to feel more responsibility for ensuring that the National Assembly stays in business.

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