-First Meeting with People Power Party Emergency Committee... Broad Discussions Expected on State Audit, Budget, and Bills
-President Yoon Repeatedly Emphasizes 'Export Strengthening' Message... Export and National Assembly Roles Expected to Be Highlighted Again
[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Suk-yeol will hold a dinner meeting with the leadership of the People Power Party on the 25th. President Yoon is expected to discuss various national issues such as the Itaewon disaster state audit, the budget bill, and also request the National Assembly's cooperation to increase exports. President Yoon has been emphasizing 'exports' daily and has instructed comprehensive government support.
According to the Blue House and political circles, President Yoon will have dinner with the leadership including Chung Jin-suk, Chairman of the People Power Party Emergency Committee, emergency committee members, Joo Ho-young, floor leader, Sung Il-jong, chairman of the policy committee, Kim Seok-ki, secretary general, Yang Geum-hee, chief spokesperson, and floor spokespersons Kim Mi-ae and Jang Dong-hyuk. Attending the meeting will also be presidential aides such as Kim Dae-gi, Chief of Staff, and Lee Jin-bok, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs.
This dinner marks the first meeting between President Yoon and the current People Power Party emergency committee leadership. In June, President Yoon invited then-party leader Lee Jun-seok and the leadership to the Yongsan Presidential Office, and in September held a luncheon with the People Power Party Special Committee for Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness Enhancement, followed by a luncheon in October with the party leadership and out-of-parliament district committee chairpersons. However, this is the first time President Yoon meets the party leadership under the emergency committee system.
President Yoon is expected to share the achievements from his recent overseas trips and successive summits with the party leadership and request parliamentary support to produce tangible results. A senior Blue House official stated, "Since President Yoon has consistently mentioned the need for political support along with messages to strengthen exports this week, it is expected that he will repeatedly emphasize the importance of exports and the roles of the government and the National Assembly at this meeting."
Indeed, on the 22nd at the Cabinet meeting and on the 23rd at the export strategy meeting, President Yoon mentioned strengthening exports, saying "Exports are the only way to survive," and ordered an all-out government-wide support campaign. The day before, as his first on-site visit to promote export enhancement, he visited a 'defense industry site' and promised, "We will establish a government-wide defense export support system so that defense exports can expand into industrial cooperation in areas such as nuclear power plants and construction." This decision is based on the favorable export performance of defense companies this year and aims to develop the defense industry not merely as a security sector but as a major export industry.
Moreover, cooperation from the National Assembly is essential to support exports. President Yoon also mentioned, "Financial and institutional backing through budgets and legislation is very important," and warned, "If we miss the right timing due to political strife, the damage will ultimately fall directly on the people." He emphasized the importance of timely processing for the sake of people's livelihoods amid sharp conflicts between ruling and opposition parties over budgets and bills.
There will also likely be time to share the Blue House and party's stance on the Itaewon disaster state audit. Earlier, on the 24th, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed the "Approval of the State Audit Plan for the Yongsan Itaewon Disaster Investigation and Prevention of Recurrence." By agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, a preliminary investigation for data and witness selection will be conducted until the next year's budget bill is processed, followed by hearings and on-site investigations.
A ruling party official said, "Although this is the first meeting with the core leadership of the party, considering the economic and political situation, various discussions are inevitable," and added, "There are many issues such as the state audit and bill processing that require coordination between both sides, so starting from this meeting, the positions of the party and the Blue House on each issue will become clearer."
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