DP chief slams Yoon's martial law as a 'coup,' proposes 30 trillion won supplementary budget

Home > National > Politics

DP chief slams Yoon's martial law as a 'coup,' proposes 30 trillion won supplementary budget

Published: 10 Feb. 2025, 19:11 Updated: 10 Feb. 2025, 19:49

SEO JI-EUN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung delivers a policy speech during a plenary session at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Feb. 10. [YONHAP]

Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung denounced President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief martial law decree as a "coup d’état" as he outlined plans for a lawmaker recall mechanism and economic reforms in a parliamentary address on Monday.

“A pro-military coup driven by the lust for power is dismantling our hard-won democratic and constitutional order," Lee said during the speech at a plenary session of the National Assembly in western Seoul. "The DP will form a ‘constitutional protection alliance’ with everyone who respects the values of a democratic republic and fight together against those who seek to destroy our Constitution. As our first measure, we will introduce a lawmaker recall system.”

The proposed recall system, long advocated by Lee, would allow citizens to remove members of the National Assembly through a national referendum during their term — a power currently reserved for local officials under the resident recall system. Lee, however, did not elaborate on the details of the system.

On the economic front, Lee called for a supplementary budget of at least 30 trillion won ($20.6 billion) to support economic revival.

“Fair growth — one that creates new growth engines while sharing opportunities and benefits — will open the door to a better world,” he said.

He also renewed his call for a “Basic Society” while combining fair wealth distribution with robust growth and recovery.

He argued that transitioning to an innovative, high-tech society would require reducing working hours and cited a four-day workweek as one option.

Adding to his reform agenda, Lee introduced a new policy concept dubbed “Jal-sa-nism" — deriving from the Korean adverb jal (well) and the verb sal-da (to live).

“For the sake of a society where everyone can live well, I am ready to adopt any policy that proves useful,” he said. “I want to propose ‘Jal-sanism’ as a new vision — one that goes beyond [the ideology of eating and living well] and moves toward collective prosperity.”

Lee concluded his address by pledging to reject extremism and revive the values of coexistence, communication, dialogue and compromise, asserting that national unity is both a political mission and duty.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung receives congratulations from fellow lawmakers after delivering a policy speech at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Feb. 10. [YONHAP]

The address outlining his political and economic reform plans came amid speculation of an early presidential election, with Lee being considered a frontrunner candidate for the DP.

However, Lee's speech was criticized by the conservative People Power Party (PPP), accusing him of showing no reflection and crafting unrealistic policies aimed at consolidating power.

“There was no reflection or self-criticism,” said Kim Dae-sik, the party’s chief spokesperson in the National Assembly. He went so far as to describe the new “Jal-sanism” concept as little more than a 'lie-sanism.'”

PPP interim leader Kwon Young-se questioned the credibility of his proposals.

“After fumbling over minor issues like the 52-hour workweek exemption [for semiconductor workers], he now presents an overly rosy blueprint that includes targets like 3 percent economic growth over five years and the nurturing of six Samsung Electronics-like companies. Who is supposed to believe that?” Kwon said.

"Lee’s so-called practical policies have been exposed as nothing more than a series of bounced checks issued solely to retain power," Kwon said.

PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, who was scheduled to give a parliamentary address Tuesday, described Lee's policy proposals as hypocrisy, comparing him to a self-professed "vegetarian who eats chicken."

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]