By Han Seungyeon
Today President Mun reached the half-way point of his term – amidst significant disagreement over how his tenure should be assessed. The ruling party points out that “in the past, unimaginable changes were made [by other ruling parties]”, while critics opposition critics said that Mun’s administration had “totally closed down” the courts and prosecution service and had increased conflict [within Korean society].
In addition, the [ruling] Democratic Party lauded the first half Mun’s reign as a time for efforts for a nation-like country and a just Korea, alongside efforts to improve peace and the economic outlook on the Korean peninsula. [They also claimed that Mun had] made every effort to build a fairer society.
The [opposition] Liberal Party strongly criticised Mun at this halfway point on three points: incompetence, irresponsibility and inaction. In particular, they felt that what they perceive as a collapse of the values of justice and fairness was the most serious problem. Representative Hwang Gyoan of the Liberal Party said: “Now it’s a halfway point. What type of halfway return point? It’s a halfway point when Mun should resign.”
Hwang has proposed a two-and-a-half year total closure and called for a full turnaround in state policy in the second half of his term. Hwang is calling for a full investigation into the last two-and-a-half years of Mun’s tenure and a complete turnaround in state policy in the second half of Mun’s presidency.
The [minority opposition] Right Future Party stressed [their desire for] the unity of the people in the second half of Mun’s term, saying that the regime had to heal the conflict it had created. The [minority opposition] Justice Party cited some half-successful policies [from Mun] such as clearing up redundancy and promoting reforms, and the [minority opposition] Democratic Peace Party called for thorough reform, saying they could not give Mun a positive appraisal.
