After the Summit... Ruling Party: "Communication Breakthrough" vs Opposition: "Empty-Handed, So Frustrating"

People Power Party "Significance of Opening Communication and Cooperation"
Democratic Party "Yoon Has No Will to Shift Government Policy Direction"

The ruling and opposition parties sharply differ in their evaluations of the first summit meeting between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. The People Power Party attributed significance to the meeting, saying it "opened the door to communication and cooperation," but also criticized Lee for "repeating unilateral claims." The Democratic Party harshly criticized the meeting as ending "empty-handed."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (pictured left), is delivering a prepared message to President Yoon Suk-yeol during a summit meeting held on the 29th at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 30th, Jeong Gwang-jae, spokesperson for the People Power Party, said in an interview with KBS Radio's 'Jeon Jong-cheol's Jeonggyeok Sisa,' "I saw hope for future cooperation and communication as the communication channel between the President and the leader opened." Jeong added, "However, there was also regret that the Democratic Party, holding the power of the huge opposition bloc with 192 seats, might boast great power in the 22nd National Assembly," and "the perception gap in the political situation remained."

Regarding Lee's comment immediately after the summit the previous day that he felt "frustrated and disappointed," Jeong interpreted it as "a political rhetoric by Leader Lee," saying, "It seems he tried to slightly reinforce the image of communication failure by implying that even talking with President Yoon did not really get through."

On the other hand, Min Hyung-bae, chairman of the Democratic Party's Strategic Planning Committee, appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 30th and described the previous day's summit as "really frustrating." Min said, "I closely observed the process of negotiating the format of the meeting, and President Yoon did not change at all, just as we expected," adding, "The only change was that he acknowledged the opposition leader as a dialogue partner for the first time."

Regarding the ruling party's claim that "the Democratic Party made unilateral claims," he rebutted, "That is really a minor issue, and in the closed-door meeting, it was President Yoon who spoke unilaterally."

Jin Sung-jun, chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' the same day and said, "The first agenda was the livelihood recovery support fund, and since President Yoon said he had no intention of even providing emergency funds, a sense of frustration overwhelmed me from that moment." Jin attended the summit between President Yoon and Leader Lee the previous day.

He said, "To provide the livelihood recovery support fund, a supplementary budget (Chugyeong) must be prepared. That is the government's responsibility and requires the President's decision," adding, "Leader Lee repeatedly mentioned this, but President Yoon had no intention at all."

Jin also said that the special prosecutor laws concerning First Lady Kim Keon-hee and Chae Sang-byeong were not even discussed at the meeting the previous day. Regarding the Itaewon Special Act, he said, "The gap in positions with the President was too large to continue the meeting any longer," lamenting, "There was too little time."

He continued, "President Yoon talked about various issues, mixing in side topics and digressions extensively," and added, "I don't think he deliberately tried to avoid mentioning certain topics, but we could not discuss all those issues."