It seems that the rival parties are competing for slip of the tongue. This is the case with the recent controversy over 'waste bus and spin kick'. A ruling party lawmaker was criticized for proposing a "dead bus modification" as a measure for youth housing, and opposition lawmakers were criticized for lightly talking about the "Busan Spin Kick incident." Although the context is different, the keywords penetrating the two issues are clearly read. Lack of empathy (共感). If you had thought for a moment about the expression of a young man who would live on a cramped bus and the fear that victims of crime must have experienced, you could not easily say that.

Forgetting the owner, the voter, is a cross-section of the absence of empathy. In election season, politicians who used to travel in alleys and markets move away from the lives of voters after wearing badges. It opens its ears to the voices of strong supporters rather than the public's eye level, and puts the interests of the next nomination and factions ahead of the people's livelihood.

A more essential problem is that the level of empathy determines the quality of laws and institutions. Laws and institutions lacking empathy are at high risk of making the socially underprivileged 'invisible people'. An example is the recently revised Criminal Procedure Act. There is no public face that will be affected by the law in the provision that has rapidly filled the vacancy of the abolition of the supplementary investigation right. This is why both progressive and conservative camps criticized the amendment to the Criminal Law.

The lack of empathy, confirmed by words and condolences, reminds us of Kim Ye-ji's speech in 2023. He cited the case of "Koi (Bidan carp)," pointing out the possibility of being buried in abuse crimes against the disabled as a side effect of the prosecution's complete deprivation of prosecution investigation rights.

The fish grows about 10cm in a small fish tank, but up to 1m in the river. Fish with the same gene encounter a completely different life depending on what kind of environment they encounter. Not to mention a man. Representative Kim's appeal is that good laws and systems expand the space for members of society to dream and expand their possibilities.

Empathy is the starting point of good legislation beyond human dignity. Politics must not lose sight of a person's face. It is recommended that the ruling and opposition parties, as well as the government and Cheong Wa Dae, look for and listen to lawmaker Kim's speech in 2023.

[Editor Lee Jaechul]