President Park Geun-hye will invite all lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party to her office Cheong Wa Dae for a luncheon meeting later this week, the party's floor leader said Tuesday, in a move to ensure their support for her management of state affairs.
Saenuri floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk announced that all of the party's 129 lawmakers have been invited to a luncheon, which is scheduled to be held at the presidential office on Friday.
This photo, taken on July 5, 2016, shows President Park Geun-hye attending a luncheon meeting with members of the Korea Freedom Federation at her office Cheong Wa Dae. (Yonhap)
Chung also said that the government, presidential office and ruling party will hold three-way talks on Thursday at Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn's official residence to discuss their cooperation over a range of issues including economic revitalization.
"The (luncheon) gathering will be a venue where (ruling party lawmakers) will vow to make the 20th National Assembly work harder and be more productive, and make all-out efforts to revitalize the economy and improve people's livelihoods," Chung told reporters.
At the luncheon gathering, Park is expected to call for the party's backing for her government's efforts to push for economic reform, create jobs, spur growth and counter persistent military threats from a nuclear-ambitious North Korea.
The luncheon will be the third of its kind. Park hosted similar events with the ruling party ranks in January 2014 and August last year.
Friday's gathering was arranged after tensions between the party and presidential office flared up over the party's decision to reaccept a group of independent lawmakers who bolted from the party after failing to secure nominations for the April 13 parliamentary elections.
Among the independent lawmakers was Rep. Yoo Seong-min whose relationship with the president soured last year after Yoo played a role in the passage of a controversial bill that Park strongly opposed.
In a move to bolster communication with the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Park is reportedly seeking to invite parliamentary leaders, including National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun and the chairs of parliamentary committees, for a lunch meeting sometime next month.
Park has been seeking to set the tone for cooperative ties with parliament since the ruling party lost a majority in the 300-member legislature in the April 13 general elections.
The opposition bloc now leads the legislature with the largest opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and the minor People's Party holding 122 seats and 38 seats, respectively.
Assembly Speaker Chung welcomed Park's reported plan to host the luncheon with parliamentary leaders.
"I hope and anticipate that such efforts to (strengthen) communication (with parliament) will lead to (better) communication and cooperation between the government and legislature so as to help lessen the pains of the people," he told Yonhap News Agency over the phone.
The Saenuri Party said that the plan is a "display of Park's will" to respect the legislature as a partner for the management of state affairs.
"The meeting will be a timely and meaningful event at a time when the country faces a series of complicated pending issues at home and abroad," party spokesman Ji Sang-wuk said. (Yonhap)