The rift between the ruling People Power Party(PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) widened as partisanship appeared to take precedence over politics for the people.

Among the bitter confrontations between the rival camps in the National Assembly was the passage of a motion allowing prosecutors to arrest DP leader Lee Jae-myung for a pretrial detention warrant hearing as well as a recommendation to dismiss Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, both of which were firsts in constitutional history.

Legislation related to people’s livelihoods, on the other hand, were put on the back burner.

A bill seeking stronger punishment against scammers of large-scale “jeonse” lump sum deposit fraud and another on penalizing random threats of indiscriminate killing and the possession of a potentially deadly weapon in public places both remain pending in parliament.

The National Assembly also failed to meet the legal deadline for next year’s budget, with the bill’s passage coming 19 days late on December 21.

With the general elections in April fast approaching, both parties are rolling out policies and initiatives that pander to voters, such as the PPP’s push for the so-called “Mega Seoul” project incorporating cities around the metropolitan area into the capital and the DP’s pursuit to introduce a windfall tax for banks.

Photo : YONHAP News

1. S. Korea, US, Japan Usher in New Era of Cooperation

2. Ties between South Korea and Japan Thaw into Full Partnership

3. Inter-Korean Ties Suffer Due to N. Korea’s Continued Provocations

4. Rival Camps’ Partisan Polarization Deepens

5. Industrial Environment Takes Hit, Drastic Changes Seen in Global Supply Chains

6. Japan Releases Contaminated Water from Fukushima Plant

7. New Gov't Agency Launched for Overseas Koreans

8. S. Korea Wins UN Security Council Seat

9. S. Korea Successfully Launches Homegrown Nuri Rocket

10. S. Koreans Take World by Storm in Classical Music, Literature