Lee Jun-seok: "When I said 'The results seem good,' President Yoon smiled brightly"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, commented on the diplomatic achievements of President Yoon Seok-yeol, who attended the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit on the 1st, saying, "He did well as his first diplomatic debut stage. He set a clear major direction (in diplomacy)."

Appearing on JTBC's 'Ssuljeon Live' that day, Lee referred to welcoming President Yoon at Seoul Airport, saying, "Didn't you see well how our president was treated at NATO?" and added, "He showed achievements while being expected to play a role almost equal to member countries."

Lee said that when he shook hands with President Yoon at Seoul Airport, he told him, "It seems the results this time were very good. It is very meaningful diplomatically that we play a role in NATO," and said President Yoon showed a broad smile in response.

He continued, "Although Korea is not a place to stand in NATO's space, we were recognized as an entity playing a role," adding, "Didn't you see a clear shift in diplomatic direction?"

Lee also mentioned First Lady Kim Geon-hee's 'fashion diplomacy' during the trip. He said, "Until now, when first ladies went abroad, they usually wore hanbok or dressed modestly to highlight the president," and added, "But Mrs. Kim's outfit stood out from the moment of departure. It might be good to interpret the meaning of this going forward."

Regarding the resignation of pro-Yoon lawmaker Park Seong-min from the party leader's secretary office, he said, "There must have been some difficult points for Representative Park recently," and explained, "When the letter to Ukraine was brought up, he was the person in charge of communication with the president, and there were issues about whether or not to have a meeting."

He denied all allegations related to evidence destruction in the sexual bribery scandal surrounding him and the suspicion of instructing evidence destruction through Chief of Staff Kim Cheol-geun. Lee said, "The party ethics committee accused me of instructing someone to destroy evidence related to the sexual bribery allegations. Did I instruct? No, I did not. I did not do the previous either."

When asked whether the facts of the sexual bribery should be confirmed first, he replied, "That requires starting a procedure. We also need to see if the ethics committee is willing to start the procedure," and added, "Currently, they are dealing with the instruction of evidence destruction, but I did not instruct."

Furthermore, he said, "At the time the ethics committee started the disciplinary review, the party's approval rating was solid, and the local elections were even a landslide victory. It is ambiguous what the party's loss is considered," and added, "If they are going to do everything, the ethics committee is saying they want to hold a trial."