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The ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Monday have officially launched a joint consultative body for livelihood issues and to carry out common policy pledges.
The establishment of the joint consultative body comes nearly two months after such agreement was made between the leaders of the two rival parties during their first official talks held early last month. 
The consultative body will consist of four members — policy committee chairs and chief deputy floor leaders of each party — and plans to review policy pledges tied to livelihood issues, including equal employment opportunities, abolishment of the financial investment income tax scheme and support measures for artificial intelligence technology.
People Power Party Policy Committee Chair Kim Sang-hoon, a member of the new consultative body, expressed anticipation that the latest cooperation will bridge the gaps between the rival parties’ views on policies and legislation.
“While the ruling and the main opposition parties have to fight when we have to, we have to commit to our roles (as lawmakers) when dealing with bills related to people’s livelihood issues,” Kim said at an event marking the launch of the new body held at the National Assembly in western Seoul that morning.
“There could be some disagreements over (certain) bills, but I expect (such gaps in views) to be smoothly bridged,” he added.
Kim also pointed to issues such as the government’s pension reform plan and introducing a bipartisan resolution condemning Russia’s reported recruitment of North Korean troops in Russia’s southwestern region of Kursk, where a major Ukrainian incursion took place in August.
Kim’s counterpart, Democratic Party Rep. Jin Sung-joon pledged to make full-fledged efforts to pass as many livelihood-related bills as possible regardless of the existing tension between the rival parties.
“While there will be several issues that the ruling and the main opposition parties are bound to clash over, we will do our best to deal with livelihood-related pledges and policies regardless of the current political climate,” he said, echoing Kim’s sentiment.
The parties said that the members discussed how to navigate the body in the first meeting held Monday.
Monday’s launch comes amid heightening tensions between the rival parties with the Democratic Party having railroaded multiple contentious bills, including the one that mandates a special counsel investigation into several allegations surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee. The bills, which were mostly put to a vote and passed by the opposition-led Assembly were scrapped in revotes after Yoon exercised his veto power.
In a rare bipartisan move, the National Assembly in August passed some 30 bills aimed at improving the people’s livelihoods, marking the first time the rival parties showed such bipartisan support in advancing legislation since the 22nd Assembly started its four-year session in late May.
Among the 28 was the Nursing Act, which specifies the roles and responsibilities, while providing better legal protection, for nurses and nursing assistants across the country.
People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party Rep. Lee Jae-myung recently agreed to hold a second round of talks, following up on their first official meeting in early September. The date for the second meeting, however, is yet to be announced.
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