[Feature] How Shall We Create a Second Candlelight Government?
The Quarterly Changbi 205, Fall 2024
Abstract
Remembering Korean society’s historical potential, which has shown its power throughout many crises, this issue’s feature asks, “How Shall We Create a Second Candlelight Government?” Jeon Ji-yun, an editorial board member of Mindle News, points out our reality, in which people’s mistrust of the “legacy” media, which habitually offer unjust and lopsided reports, has been increasing. He emphasizes that we need to counter their negative influence, above all, for the building of the second-term Candlelight government, as the influence of the media has been strong at every important phase after the Candlelight Revolution. For that, he presents as an important task that the “progressive” media who have become parts of the legacy media avoid a reflexive neutrality, and instead stand with the anti-Yoon Suk Yeol front, together with new progressive media. The next two articles give us a glimpse of the positions in the Democratic Party of Korea and the Rebuilding Korea Party, two opposition parties that should spearhead the building of the second-term Candlelight government. Representative Min Byoungdug of the Democratic Party of Korea explains concrete aspects of the breakdown of people’s livelihoods under the Yoon administration and presents visions and strategies that the Democratic Party of Korea should pursue to obtain power. He argues that his party’s presentation of concrete policies to improve people’s livelihoods and the heightening of people’s trust in its ability to carry them out could expedite our road to a second-term Candlelight government. Kim Bo-Hyeop, a spokesperson of the Rebuilding Korea Party, explains the background of his party’s official policy: to pursue Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment and strategies to do so. He asks for people’s interest and participation in the Three Years Are Too Long Special Committee (a.k.a. “Committee to Pursue Impeachment”) so that the committee can play a central role in the people’s movement for the early end of the current administration.