There is a growing possibility that President Moon Jae-in and the leaders of the five major political parties will sit down together for the first time in more than a year.
On Monday, main opposition Liberty Korea Party(LKP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn said he will accept any form of meeting with Moon in order to discuss Japan’s trade restrictions on South Korea.
Later in the day, the secretary-generals of the five parties, including the ruling Democratic Party and the LKP, met and reached the consensus that the meeting, if confirmed, should be held on Thursday. They agreed to meet again on Tuesday to finalize the date and the agenda of the meeting.
The last time the president and the five leaders of the ruling and opposition parties met face-to-face was in March of last year, when the first summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was high on the agenda, along with issue of a constitutional revision.
In addition to Japan’s export curbs, Seoul’s recent humanitarian aid to North Korea and the latest regarding diplomacy for denuclearization could be discussed during the prospective meeting. Electoral reform is also among the candidate topics.
However, locking down a meeting agenda or even holding the meeting itself may be challenging if the opposition parties call for discussions on divisive issues, such as the government’s response to the recent undetected arrival of a North Korean boat and the planned appointment of prosecutor-general nominee Yoon Seok-yeol.