Yoon-Elected Side "To Meet President Moon Frankly on the 28th... Prime Minister Nomination Is Just Beginning" (Comprehensive)

On the 25th, Schedule Coordination via Lee Cheol-hee and Jang Je-won Line
Kim Eun-hye: "President-elect Yoon Always Open-minded"
"Prime Minister Nomination Process... Just Beginning"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok, Mun Je-won, Kwon Hyun-ji] The team of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol announced on the 27th that he will have a meeting with President Moon Jae-in tomorrow, which will also include a dinner. They explained that they plan to have an open and candid conversation without any specific agenda.

Kim Eun-hye, spokesperson for the President-elect, stated during a briefing at the transition committee office in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, "We received a message from the Blue House that President Moon wishes to meet with President-elect Yoon as soon as possible," adding, "President-elect Yoon responded that it is most important to ease the public’s concerns and agreed to meet without an agenda for an open and candid dialogue."

She continued, "President Moon and President-elect Yoon will meet on the 28th at 6 p.m. at Sangchunjae in the Blue House for a dinner meeting."

After the briefing, during a Q&A session with reporters, Spokesperson Kim explained, "I understand that Cheol-hee Lee, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House, and Jae-won Jang, Chief of Staff for the President-elect, made contact on the afternoon of the 25th," and "They coordinated the place and schedule and decided to meet." She added, "Upon receiving the contact proposal from Senior Secretary Lee, the President-elect promptly prepared for a swift and continuous process regarding this matter," and said, "Considering COVID-19, the difficulties faced by the public, the economic impact domestically due to the Ukraine situation, and security concerns, the President-elect judged that it is important to ease the public’s worries on these serious issues."

Regarding analysis that the meeting was arranged after resolving controversies such as the audit committee appointments, Spokesperson Kim said, "Although there were discussions about appointments including audit committee members, the Blue House meeting is a matter of a different dimension," and added, "Regardless of any speculation, I would like to reaffirm that President-elect Yoon has always maintained an open mind."

She further stated, "The consistent stance has been that for the meeting between the incumbent president and the president-elect to be meaningful to the public, it must yield significant results," and said, "I believe that as they reach conclusions and naturally have dinner together, opportunities will arise to discuss national issues and tasks."

The President-elect’s team also expressed that the process of selecting the first Prime Minister for the new government is "just at the beginning stage."

When asked whether President-elect Yoon would receive an official report on the first Prime Minister candidate as early as the 27th, Spokesperson Kim replied, "We are just beginning the process of identifying, reviewing, and verifying candidates."

She said, "We have criteria for appointments regarding the Prime Minister," and added, "We will proceed with the selection process to ensure that the public sees a flawless government operation." She explained, "The time and schedule for the candidate search and verification process are focused on enabling the new government to work competently after the President-elect’s inauguration."

Jae-won Jang, Chief of Staff for the President-elect, is reportedly narrowing down the Prime Minister candidates to about five times the number based on personnel team data and plans to report to President-elect Yoon around the 27th. Considering the time required for submitting the nomination request to the National Assembly, forming the confirmation committee, and reviewing personnel verification materials, the verification process must begin this week to select the Prime Minister in time for the presidential inauguration.

Prime Minister candidates include former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, former Doosan Chairman Park Yong-man, former Democratic Party leader and National Unity Committee Chair Kim Han-gil, and former National Assembly Deputy Speaker and Presidential Inauguration Preparation Committee Chair Park Joo-sun.