Minju: "Yoon Ignores People Expecting Change... Is He Just Insisting 'I'm Right'?"

Yoon "Right direction for state affairs... but lacked tangible changes"
Park Ji-won "I had my doubts"... Yoon Gun-young "No answer"

The opposition strongly criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol's remarks at the Cabinet meeting regarding the crushing defeat in the general election.

Han Min-soo, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, said at a briefing at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 16th, "President Yoon Suk-yeol completely ignored the people who expected even a slight change in state affairs," and evaluated, "Instead of reflecting on his uncommunicative governance, he only made excuses that the direction was right but the results were poor." At the Cabinet meeting presided over by President Yoon at the Yongsan Presidential Office that morning, he said, "I will communicate more with a humbler and more flexible attitude and listen to public opinion starting with myself," and added, "Although I did my best to set the right direction for state affairs and implement it, it was insufficient to create changes that the people could feel."

On the 1st, amid the prolonged medical-government conflict over the plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 students, citizens at Seoul Station in Jung-gu, Seoul, are watching President Yoon Seok-yeol's national address regarding healthcare reform. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Spokesperson Han criticized these remarks, saying, "Ultimately, it is a dogmatic declaration that he will continue the uncommunicative politics led by Yongsan as before, rather than reflecting," and pointed out, "President Yoon rejected the stern public mandate to change the state affairs policy with stubbornness and dogmatism." Regarding President Yoon's statement that he would explain well to the National Assembly about the necessary budget and bills for stabilizing people's livelihoods but did not mention the opposition party, Han said, "There was not a single word about recognizing the opposition party as a partner in state governance, which was the will expressed in the general election."

After the briefing, Han met with reporters and said, "It seems there has never been a president like President Yoon who does not hold press conferences or occasions to communicate with the people," and added, "Questions from reporters are ultimately questions from the people. I hope a sincere opportunity to ask and answer the questions that the people want to hear and ask will be arranged soon." Regarding the fact that President Yoon has not met even once with Representative Lee Jae-myung, Han said, "I have fundamental doubts about whether he truly understands the public sentiment revealed through the general election."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Democratic Party lawmakers also criticized President Yoon's stance. Park Ji-won, the elected representative for Haenam, Wando, and Jindo counties in Jeollanam-do, said on Facebook, "I had some hope, but as expected," and added, "The people are becoming more distressed, and even harsher challenges await in state governance." Park pointed out that the format of the statement was problematic, saying, "He should have talked with the people and journalists, not held a Cabinet meeting."

Lawmaker Yoon Gun-young said, "I feel there is absolutely no answer," and criticized, "The people say that both the path the Yoon Suk-yeol government has taken and the path it intends to take are all wrong, but the president still insists, 'I am right.'" He added, "He even gets angry at the people," and said, "It seems pointless to have any expectations for a president who does not change despite a historic level of judgment."

The Innovation Party also joined in. Spokesperson Kim Bo-hyeop issued a statement saying, "We apologize for the people not recognizing," and added, "President Yoon himself says he did his best and worked hard, but since the people did not feel it, it seems the people should apologize instead." He continued, "The people judged the administration, but the president blames the government, so there can be no correct prescription from a wrong diagnosis."