First meeting between South Korean President Yoon and the leader of the largest opposition party: few common grounds, long road to ”co-rule”

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol and Lee Jae-myung, president of the Democratic Party of Korea, the largest opposition party, met at the presidential office on the 29th of last month. The two men's meeting will be the first in May 2022 under Yoon Jong-un.
This is the first time since the inauguration of the government. The ruling party, the People Power Party, which supports the Yoon administration, suffered a major defeat in the general election on the 10th of last month. Cooperation with the opposition parties is now more important than ever.
President Yoon has been criticized for his stance on dialogue with the opposition party, and it is believed that the aim of this meeting was to prevent the administration from becoming a lame duck.
Last month's general election was contested through single-seat constituencies (254 seats) and proportional representation (46 seats), and was positioned as a mid-term evaluation of the Yoon administration.
Before the election, the opposition Democratic Party of Korea had 156 seats (including affiliated parties), while the ruling People Power Party had 114 seats (including affiliated parties), resulting in a "twisted" situation in which the opposition parties held a majority of seats in the National Assembly.
The focus of the election was whether this situation could be resolved. As a result of the vote count, the People Power Party won 108 seats and the Democratic Party of Korea won 175 seats, resulting in a major defeat for the People Power Party, which supports President Yoon.
Although the opposition parties fell short of the 200 seats needed to pass constitutional amendments or motions calling for the impeachment of the president, they will continue to hold the reins of power in the political arena.
The People Power Party took responsibility for its crushing defeat and dismissed the head of the party, emergency response committee chairman Han Dong-hoon, as well as Prime Minister Han Deok-soo and the National Assembly.
All senior presidential officials at the rank of chief secretary or above, except for the National Security Office, announced their intention to resign. Regarding the election results, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said, "With three years left in his term, President Yoon will have to re-establish the way he runs the nation.
"The labor reforms, education reforms, and pension reforms proposed by the Yoon administration, as well as medical reforms such as increasing the number of doctors, are expected to become even more difficult in the future," the Chosun Ilbo said.
After the election, Democratic Party leader Lee said, "I will of course meet and talk with President Yoon. President Yoon will also need cooperation and collaboration from the opposition parties," and called on President Yoon to meet with him.
Since taking office in August 2022, Lee has repeatedly proposed a meeting with President Yoon, but President Yoon has not responded and the proposal has never materialized.
Meanwhile, following the election results, President Yoon expressed his intention to work toward "renewing national politics," and the ruling and opposition parties have voiced their opinions that in order to achieve this, "the president himself must first
In order to break through the difficult situation, "cooperation" with the opposition is essential, and the Korean media has commented that "the success or failure of the meeting (with Representative Lee) will determine the change in the tone of national politics."
With some pointing out that "it is being viewed as a Thomas test" (Dong-A Ilbo), attention was focused on whether President Yoon would agree to meet with Representative Lee.
The first meeting between the two took place on the 29th of last month. It lasted for about two hours longer than scheduled.
At the beginning of the meeting, the representative asked, "Please listen to what the people have to say, with the feeling that this is your last chance to steer the national government," and while reading out a 10-page A4 manuscript he had prepared in advance, he spoke about politics.
Currently in South Korea, the medical community is strongly opposed to the government's plan to increase the number of students admitted to medical schools as a measure to combat the doctor shortage, causing confusion in the medical field.
However, according to a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Korea, they confirmed that there were policy differences regarding how to improve people's lives.
Lee also mentioned President Yoon's stance on Japan. He cited the release of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the Takeshima Islands in Shimane Prefecture, over which South Korea claims sovereignty, and said, "We must respect the people's peace."
"I want the government to make active efforts to ensure that the government does not hurt the people," he said. After the meeting, the presidential office commented that "We have taken the first step toward political cooperation through communication with the opposition party."
A spokesman for the Democratic Party of Korea criticized President Yoon, saying, "We had high hopes, but we haven't seen any change from him. His assessment of the situation is too easy, which raises concerns about future national politics."
The two leaders agreed to continue holding dialogue in the future, but the key to success will be how much President Yoon will compromise on the various demands made by Lee during the meeting.
Ugh.