Moon Reaches Out to Yoon... Will a 'Weekend Meeting' Happen?

On July 25, 2019, President Moon Jae-in is seen heading to the meeting room after presenting the appointment letter to Yoon Seok-yeol, then the newly appointed Prosecutor General and now President-elect. [Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Amid a tug-of-war between the Blue House and the transition team over the meeting between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, President Moon stepped in to ease tensions by stating, "It is the duty of the people to have a dialogue as soon as possible." This move aims to prevent the situation from escalating into a 'new versus old' power struggle, drawing attention to whether the meeting, initially expected next week, will be brought forward.

On the 18th, during a meeting with his aides, President Moon said, "I don't think any coordination is necessarily required," adding, "The door of the Blue House is always open."

With practical coordination on major issues such as pardons and personnel authority hardly progressing, President Moon's statement that 'coordination is not necessary' can be interpreted as a proposal to meet first without being bound by specific agendas.

If coordination drags on without progress, it could be perceived as a confrontation between the old and new powers, which could become a burden not only for President-elect Yoon but also for President Moon.

The crackdown on aides' use of social networking services (SNS) is in a similar context. On the same day, President Moon also instructed that individual expressions regarding President-elect Yoon's pledges or government operation directions should not be made through SNS or the media. Secretary General Yoo Young-min also urged Blue House staff to keep tight-lipped.

This appears to be in response to Chief Protocol Secretary Tak Hyun-min's recent Facebook post, where he questioned, "If we are not going to use this (Blue House), can we just use it?"?raising issues about the transition team's 'office relocation.' Secretary Tak likened the office move to "Japan returning Changgyeonggung Palace to its subjects," which sparked backlash from the People Power Party side.

President Moon's proposal for a meeting was met with a positive response from President-elect Yoon's side. Kim Eun-hye, the spokesperson for the President-elect, stated in a press release that "President Moon and President-elect Yoon are communicating closely based on mutual trust regarding the Blue House meeting," and added, "We will strive to deliver a desirable outcome for the people."

Accordingly, discussions over agendas between the transition team and the Blue House are expected to accelerate rapidly, making it possible that the meeting, initially anticipated for next week, could be moved up to the weekend.

Historically, all presidents have met with the president-elect within 10 days of the election results. If the meeting between President Moon and President-elect Yoon extends beyond this weekend, it will set the record for the longest delay in such a meeting.