野 "Yoon, 'Factually Incorrect Reports and Statements' Are Outrageous... Will Propose Dismissal Motion if Foreign Minister Not Removed"

Lee Jae-myung "Even diplomatic fiascos are squeezing the lives of the people"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the on-site Supreme Council meeting held on the 26th at the Disaster and Safety Situation Room of Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office, and spoke with Floor Leader Park Hong-geun before the meeting began. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy reporters Naju-seok and Park Jun-i] On the 26th, the Democratic Party of Korea demanded the dismissal of Foreign Minister Park Jin in relation to President Yoon Seok-yeol's 'vulgar language controversy.' They declared that if a dismissal decision is not made by the end of the day, they will propose a motion to dismiss Minister Park on the 27th.

Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, pointed out the controversy related to President Yoon's recent overseas trip during the Democratic Party's Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that day, saying, "We urge the immediate dismissal of Foreign Minister Park Jin, who is the overall person responsible for this trip, and the complete replacement of the troika related to the diplomatic and security disaster, including National Security Office Director Kim Seong-han, Deputy Director Kim Tae-hyo, and Chief of Public Relations Kim Eun-hye." He added, "If President Yoon does not make a decision by today, the Democratic Party will propose a motion to dismiss the Foreign Minister tomorrow to restore the broken public trust and correct South Korea's diplomatic policy."

Park, the floor leader, said, "The entire nation expected a sincere apology from the president, but there was no public apology in the end," and criticized, "Instead, just a moment ago during a brief Q&A session, he made an outrageous remark that 'damaging the alliance through false reporting endangers the people.' This is a shameless statement that conceals the truth while intimidating the press."

Regarding President Yoon's diplomatic trip, he said, "The excuse that other countries could not attend the condolence ceremony was proven false within half a day, and the Korea-Japan summit, which was said to have been agreed upon smoothly, only brought humiliation to the entire nation," adding, "The 48-second short conversation between South Korea and the U.S. threatened both diplomacy and politics by producing no results and only causing controversy over the president's vulgar language." He also criticized the Canada trip, saying, "They cited false investment attraction and then retracted it."

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, said, "On top of the global economic crisis and South Korea's livelihood crisis, now a diplomatic disaster is also tightening the lives of the people," and added, "The opposition party will do its best to quickly correct the mistakes and move forward hand in hand in the right direction." Lee said, "President Yoon said that false reports require fact-finding," and added, "We (the Democratic Party) also need to verify once more. It would be good to clearly distinguish whether the fault lies with the person who heard it or the person who expressed it and then issue a statement. I will listen once more as well."

Woo Sang-ho, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, appeared on a radio show and demanded the dismissal of Deputy Director Kim. Woo said, "I believe discussions for the Korea-Japan summit were ongoing," and added, "Deputy Director Kim should be held responsible for leaking the diplomatic summit agreement that should have been announced simultaneously, which ultimately prevented its success. The announcement was rushed to exaggerate the achievement." Lee Sang-min, also a member of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the Democratic Party, said on another radio show, "The president should bear the ultimate responsibility, but since the five-year term is fixed, how can responsibility be held during that period?" and added, "The diplomatic line's aides, especially the National Security Office director and deputy director, must take responsibility."