Under fire from both sides over safety measure dud, gov't forms council with PPP

From left: former interim chief of People Power Party Han Dong-hoon, former conservative lawmaker Yoo Seong-min, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Rep. Ko Min-jung of the main opposition party. [NEWS1]

The government’s flip-flopping on the regulation of products purchased abroad has sparked political wrangling, inviting criticism from lawmakers of both the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and liberal Democratic Party (DP).

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration and PPP set up a policy council and held their first meeting on Wednesday, in which they discussed the establishment of new regulations and ways to implement them.

The meeting was attended by the director of national policy at the presidential office, Sung Tae-yoon, the PPP's policy chief, Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig, Government Policy Coordination Minister Bang Ki-seon and First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Kim Byoung-hwan.

The meeting comes on the heels of widespread confusion over the government's announcement of its measure mandating the Korea Certification (KC) mark for certain goods purchased directly from overseas, which was retracted only four days later after an inundation of public backlash that it excessively limits consumer choices.

During the meeting, the government and the PPP agreed to convene on a regular basis once a week, with the present attendees serving as fixed members.

The purpose of the meeting is to strengthen risk mitigation in primary political issues and to respond more sensitively and swiftly to public opinion.

"It is true that the current controversy surrounding direct overseas purchases has triggered the meeting,” said an official from the presidential office. “However, we have tried to establish such a special consultative body to strengthen and improve the current policy before," he added.

Lawmakers from Yoon's PPP also voiced their concerns about the government's premature decision. Han Dong-hoon, the former interim chief of the ruling party, said on his social media on May 18 that the mandatory KC mark for goods purchased by individuals only limits consumers’ choices, so it should be reconsidered. He also added that “it would be excessive regulation."

Yoo Seong-min, a former four-term conservative lawmaker from Daegu, also joined in the criticism of the government’s rushed decision on cross-border products. “Banning direct overseas purchases for 80 designated products without the KC mark is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” he said on his social media on the same day.

However, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is affiliated with the ruling party, took to his own Facebook page on Monday to come to the Yoon administration's defense by rebuking Han's remark. "It is regrettable that the ruling party draws attention as if there is a big problem with the entirety of the government's policies," he said.

Politicians from the DP strongly lambasted the government’s mandatory KC mark measure, calling it "helter-skelter."

Main opposition Rep. Ko Min-jung said Monday, “Widely considered 'amateur,' the Yoon Suk Yeol administration continues to push policies without considering the people’s view, creating confusion among Korean consumers.”

“Such premature measures only lead people to lose faith in the government’s policy,” she added, referring to the government’s rapid retraction of the proposed foreign purchase rule.

The government announced on May 16 that 80 types of products, such as merchandise for children and electronic devices, purchased from foreign e-commerce providers like Amazon, AliExpress and Temu must obtain the KC certification. However, only four days later, the government retracted the measure after facing huge backlash from the public.

BY CHOI HAE-JIN [choi.haejin@joongang.co.kr]