Lee Jae-myung (center), the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, shakes hands with Kim Jae-yeon, the leader of the Progressive Party, after signing a joint declaration at the launch ceremony of the “Roundtable for a New Korea to End the Insurrection and Defend the Democratic Constitution” at the National Assembly in Seoul on February 19. Yonhap News

The “Roundtable for a New Korea to End the Insurrection and Defend the Democratic Constitution” was launched on February 19, with the participation of five opposition parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). “Through the roundtable, we will gather our will to stop the destruction of the constitution by the far-right insurgent forces, including the ringleader of the rebellion Yoon Suk-yeol and the ruling People's Power Party (PPP), and to create a new Korea,” they said in the launch declaration. ”In the process, we will set the frequency to the public sentiment of the square and cooperate with and stand in solidarity with civil society.”

There is no question that all forces that agree to defend the constitutional order must join forces to form an overwhelming majority in order to overcome the fallout of the rebellion which occurred on December 3 last year early. The need for this is even more urgent in the face of the ongoing incitement of President Yoon Suk-yeol, the ringleader of the rebellion, and the rise of extreme right-wing forces that deny the constitutional order under the aegis of the ruling party.

The unconstitutionality and illegality of Yoon’s martial law declaration is clear, and Yoon should be removed from office through the impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court. However, his followers' bedlam is likely to continue for a considerable period of time, and the fight against them is bound to be long. This is why a stable framework that unites the defenders of the constitutional order is essential. It is also necessary to consider ways to expand the scope of the roundtable to include members of the Reform Party and the PPP who are in favor of Yoon’s impeachment.

A complete overcoming of the rebellion can only be achieved by creating a new Korea through national transformation, not a return to the era before the rebellion. When a vision of a good world is presented and realized, the will and urgency of the people to defend society grows, and the walls of the constitutional order become thicker and stronger. In this sense, political, economic, and social reform is the key to overcoming insurgency. The roundtable should develop a blueprint and a timetable for reforms and present the realities of society and Korea after the insurgency as specific as possible. By developing this into a policy agreement and trying to realize it together, coalition politics, which has not been possible since the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, will be possible.

While the political parties in the roundtable agree on the goal of “preserving the constitutional order,” they differ on other economic and social policies. One example is the Korea Rebuilding Party’s criticism on the DPK leader Lee Jae-myung's claim to ease inheritance tax. The policy spectrum would be even wider if members of the Reform Party or the PPP, who are in favor of Yoon’s impeachment, were to join. To overcome these differences, they have no choice but to start discussing issues that have social consensus, such as prosecution reform and political reform, and gradually increase the level of consensus. This process itself is to practice a new politics of coexistence and cooperation, and when the ground for such consensus politics is broadened, the extreme political polarization will be resolved.