Talks among government, party, presidential office canceled

Rep. Yoo Seong-min speaks in a meeting with reporters at the National Assembly on June 16, 2016.

SEOUL, (Yonhap) — A high-level meeting this week among the government, ruling party and presidential office was canceled abruptly on Thursday, sources said, spawning speculation over a possible rift among them.

The ruling Saenuri Party announced in the morning that the three-way talks will be held for the first time in four months at the prime minister’s official residence in Seoul on Friday to strengthen their coordination over a series of pending issues including the selection of the site for a new airport.

The cancellation came hours after the party decided to accept seven independent lawmakers who quit the party after failing to clinch nominations for the April 13 general elections.

Among the seven was Rep. Yoo Seong-min, who clashed with President Park Geun-hye over the passage of a controversial revision to the National Assembly Act last year. Park later vetoed the act.

Yoo, then the floor leader of the ruling party, played a role in the passage of the revision under an agreement with the opposition bloc. Park called the move “politics of betrayal,” in an apparent criticism directed at Yoo, who was once seen as loyal to the president.

Still, the exact cause of the cancellation remains unclear as no one came forward to elaborate on it.