Park Hong-geun "Yoon Hoped for Success in Overseas Trips, but the Report Card Is Too Meager"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, harshly criticized President Yoon Seok-yeol's 4-night, 6-day overseas trip on the 16th, saying, "I hoped this time would yield results for national interests, but the returned trip report card is extremely disappointing."

At the Democratic Party's Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Park said regarding President Yoon's Southeast Asia trip, "The New Southern Policy and Northern Policy have disappeared without a trace." He added, "There was no progress on historical issues even in the Korea-Japan summit," and criticized, "It is awkward to hear about the summit through Japanese media, but I am more worried about what hidden circumstances might be behind it."

Regarding the Korea-US summit, he said, "It was lip service," and "President Biden only expressed a principled stance on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)." He stated, "Although it may sound pleasant, the results have not changed," and emphasized, "Since the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has missed several opportunities, it must engage in decisive diplomacy with the US administration and Congress to reach a conclusion."

He also criticized the controversy over media control that arose during the trip.

Park said, "This trip set an embarrassing new record for media control," pointing out, "Not only was MBC excluded from boarding the presidential plane to tame the media, but there was also blatant 'media discrimination' and 'media ranking' by dealing only with specific media outlets." He criticized, "The Presidential Office excluded the press corps from the presidential plane during the trip, and to avoid further controversy, did not allow reporters into the summit venue and unilaterally announced the results without any Q&A," urging, "We demand an immediate halt to media control."