[Column] 'New Year Press Conference Cancellation', Will the Public Accept It?

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in's decision not to hold the planned New Year's press conference, citing the need to focus on responding to the Omicron variant, is not without criticism. It was supposed to be his final New Year's press conference during his term, and the cancellation is unprecedented even when looking at previous administrations.

The Blue House stated that the reason for the cancellation was the "response to Omicron." However, this explanation is hard to accept considering President Moon's recent schedule. Despite concerns over Omicron, President Moon successfully completed a 6-night, 8-day Middle East tour without issue. One might argue that the tour involved other parties, making schedule changes impossible. However, a press conference is also an event involving others, and those others are not the reporters but the people of the nation who follow immediately after.

Rather, the interpretation that the cancellation was to preempt misunderstandings that President Moon might try to exert influence through the press conference ahead of the presidential election sounds more convincing. Additionally, the interpretation that the cancellation was due to many difficult questions, such as failures in real estate policy, deterioration of inter-Korean relations, controversies over the vaccine pass, and disputes over the standing members of the National Election Commission, also seems plausible.

The Blue House might argue that there is no problem with communication with the public since there was a "Dialogue with the People" event in November last year. However, that event only highlighted the voices of the 41% of the public (President Moon's approval rating) who praised "President Moon's leadership" and felt "honored to meet him face-to-face." The remaining 59% of the public were deprived of their right to communicate with the president.

In January last year, in response to criticism about "lack of communication," Tak Hyun-min, the Blue House protocol secretary, explained that President Moon held 19 press conferences, more than former Presidents Lee Myung-bak (18 times) and Park Geun-hye (16 times). However, the Moon administration, which advocated itself as a "communication government," should not be satisfied with merely being slightly better than previous administrations. If it wanted to be recognized as a "communication government" even by citizens who do not support the government, the final New Year's press conference should have been held as scheduled.