[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Jang Je-won, Chief Secretary to President-elect, clarified that the previously scheduled luncheon meeting between President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol and President Moon Jae-in was not canceled due to conflicts over the pardon issue of former President Lee Myung-bak (MB).
On the 16th, while heading out for a luncheon with the transition committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Jang responded to reporters' questions about the reason for the meeting's cancellation by asking back, "Cancellation?" and then rebutted, "It just requires time for practical coordination."
Jang said, "We agreed not to discuss the reasons," adding, "Originally, we planned to finalize the schedule after practical coordination yesterday and then announce it, but I don't know which side it was, the schedule was announced the evening before yesterday. So we said, 'Then it can't be helped. Even if the time is tight, let's confirm it,' and the luncheon meeting schedule was confirmed."
He continued, "So yesterday, since there were some practical coordination matters to discuss, we said, 'Don't we still need a little more time? Then let's naturally postpone it and meet after better coordination,' and that's how it was decided."
When asked if the subsequent meeting would take a long time, Jang replied, "Well, we have to see," adding, "Please give us some time. If we say when we will meet again and it gets canceled, wouldn't that be the same? You can see that the Blue House and we will continue practical coordination without it being a 'breakdown or cancellation' issue."
Regarding whether the MB pardon request was an obstacle to the meeting, he said, "The authority to grant pardons lies with the president," and added, "Don't think that the meeting will be confirmed only after we get an answer. We are not currently clashing over that."
When asked if it was related to the agenda, he replied, "We promised not to discuss such matters with the Blue House."
About the timing of the decision to cancel the meeting, he said, "We kept talking last night," and added, "When they said more time was needed, the decision was made that lunch today would be difficult."
Jang denied meeting Lee Cheol-hee, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House, the previous night, saying, "Various things are being said, but we agreed not to confirm them with each other. Please understand as it would be impolite to the other side."
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