One of the most popular criticisms against mainstream politics in South Korea is that it has focused too much on political agendas serving the purposes of established politics with less appeal to the general public.

A case in point was the 19th National Assembly. A hefty portion of its four-year term was devoted to partisan standoff over contentious legislation, most of which has ended up turning into protracted ideological debates that soon eclipsed everyday matters.  Only about 45 percent of the submitted bills cleared the Assembly, placing it as the worst-performing legislature since the 15th Assembly elected in 1996. 

Moving for a change this time, liberal-minded academics and civil activists set up an organization Sunday to highlight legislative agenda items they said would be “relevant” to people’s daily life -- such as removing cumbersome software access to websites and lowering the voting age for young people.

“The government-led policies have trouble being connected to the people’s daily lives,” said Lee Yong-mo, a professor of public administration at Konkuk University who cochairs the Center for Civic Awareness and Policy Making group.

During the event attended by lawmakers from both liberal and conservative parties, the new organization vowed to end the use of ActiveX, a 20-year old Microsoft software framework that Internet users are required to install in order to access websites and services of many public agencies and financial institutions in Korea.

Microsoft itself dropped support for the system in 2015 and the government has pledged to replace the program with a more solid accredited certificate system. The group said it would collect information from ordinary users, listen to what hinders their everyday use the most and allow the feedback to be reflected in legislation. 

In the longer-term, the group pledged to focus on encouraging young people to engage in politics. Included in that are plans to lower the voting age to 19 from 20, a move that was previously rejected by the Constitutional Court in 2013, which deemed minors unfit to cast votes.

Earlier in a similar move, Dajoonda political institute was launched in 2012 as a private organization to promote wider reflection of everyday issues. Starting as a small group with four founding members, it has grown into a political forum that includes such prominent politicians as Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon.

“There are more young people than we think who want to engage with politics. The question is how to embrace them,” said Lee Dong-hak, a 33-year-old activist who was a member of a progressive party and a political commentator before running the organization.

Translated as “a place to prepare for the next world,” the Seoul-based nonprofit organization discusses issues that resonate with average citizens and young people, including reducing college tuition and marriage costs.

Among popular programs is a speech delivered by young activists and typical students. The speakers range from a young job seeker who suggested a change in the recruiting system for public teachers by extending the notification period of the exam categories to a contentious objector who became a movie director.

Experts said these moves would play a “complementary” role in the political system dominated by legislative bodies that have often been preoccupied with grandiose political agendas and proved inefficient in addressing everyday issues.

“It shows that politics has failed to incorporate the people’s daily issues into the legislative process,” said Jun Kye-Wan, a political analyst at Korea’s Knowledge Center. “They can advocate agendas that establishment parties have not dealt with in a complex society, such as sexual minorities’ and animals’ rights,” he said.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)