President Park Geun-hye’s criticism of parliamentary moves to tighten the reins on conglomerates is fueling new political disputes.

On Monday, Park voiced concerns that a series of measures under discussion at the National Assembly overstepped the goal of her flagship economic democratization policy and could worsen investor sentiment.

Opposition politicians chided her for reversing course on her campaign pledges and infringing upon the National Assembly’s legislative authority.

“It seems to have developed while going back and forth between the ruling and opposition parties, but it is worrisome that (the measures) are going too far,” Park said at Monday’s meeting with presidential staff.

The comment, which came just as lawmakers put forward tougher anti-trust measures, incited criticism from the main opposition Democratic United Party.

“Cheong Wa Dae is issuing guidelines when the parties are trying to cooperate (on economic democratization measures),” DUP floor leader Rep. Park Ki-choon said on Tuesday.

“The ruling and opposition parties can reach an agreement more quickly while upholding principles without Cheong Wa Dae issuing guidelines or applying brakes.”

In recent weeks lawmakers have proposed revising regulations to impose heavier punishments on leaders of large companies involved in illegal activities.

Such measures include imposing jail sentences of between 15 years and life on conglomerate chiefs who make illegal gains of more than 30 billion won ($26.8 million), and revising the Amnesty Act to limit the president’s authority to pardon economic criminals.

Others include levying heavier fines on affiliates of conglomerates involved in anticompetitive in-house dealings.

The DUP also questioned Park’s understanding of the separation of powers.

“(I) want to ask if this means that topics not included in the president’s campaign pledges should not be discussed at the National Assembly. It seems that there is a serious problem in (the president’s) concept of separation of powers,” DUP spokeswoman Rep. Lee Un-ju said.

“The legislative power is with the National Assembly. The president should avoid being misunderstood as putting pressure on the ruling party by mentioning issues related to legislative powers.”

The mainstream of the ruling Saenuri Party, however, supported the president’s comment, with floor leader Lee Hahn-koo again emphasizing that caution was required in related discussions.

“It will be difficult to revive the economy if the National Assembly, which has the authority to decide on important economic policies, approaches the issue with a short-term view to appeal to the public,” Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Lee Hahn-koo said.

On Monday, Lee had said that while talk of strong economic democratization measures was “understandable during elections,” the parties should “be careful not to break businesspeople’s drive.”

Similar views were echoed by a number of Saenuri Party lawmakers who warned against “excessive legislation.”

However, some Saenuri figures have distanced themselves from such skepticism.

“The structure of this situation where large companies have monopolies forcing disadvantage onto the economically weak must be addressed in some way,” Rep. Kim Se-yeon said. Kim is the executive secretary of the Saenuri Party’s discussion group on economic democratization.

“It is not desirable for discussions that seem to deny the need for economic democratization to continue.”

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)