"Possibility of Communication Error Among Staff"
Yongsan "Phone Calls and Texts" vs Democratic Party "Never Received"
The Presidential Office dismissed the truth dispute arising during the process of delivering a congratulatory orchid to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 20th as a "fruitless debate."
A Presidential Office official told Asia Economy, "There may have been a communication error during the process of coordinating the schedule for delivering the congratulatory orchid by the staff," adding, "It is unnecessary to escalate the issue into a dispute by taking a confrontational stance with the congratulatory orchid in a positive atmosphere where Lee Jae-myung proposed a summit meeting with the President."
According to the Presidential Office, the senior administrative officer of the Office of Political Affairs tried to coordinate the schedule for the political secretary's visit to deliver the congratulatory orchid on behalf of President Yoon Seok-yeol the previous morning, but the schedule coordination at the staff level did not proceed properly.
When progress stalled, a secretary-level official from the Presidential Office called and left a message to Lee Hae-sik, chief secretary to the Democratic Party leader, for personnel matters and to deliver the congratulatory orchid, but the call was not connected. When they tried to contact a party official, the call was rejected, followed by a text message saying, "Please text me, and I will get back to you." Assuming that the Democratic Party was busy and unable to take the call, the Presidential Office political secretary left a text message around 3:28 p.m. the previous day with their name and a request to call back at a convenient time, but no further contact was made, according to the Presidential Office.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 19th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Earlier, another Presidential Office official met with reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office and said, "Since morning, the political secretary has tried several times to contact Lee Jae-myung, the new party leader, to deliver the congratulatory orchid on behalf of the President, but there was no response," adding, "It seems difficult to deliver it today."
However, the Democratic Party's Public Relations Bureau issued a statement to the media the previous afternoon, saying, "This is completely untrue," and clarified, "The Democratic Party was coordinating the date for the political secretary's visit to Leader Lee, and there was no conversation regarding the delivery of the congratulatory orchid." The conflicting claims between the two sides led to a dispute over the truth.
On the day, a Presidential Office official said, "It seems to be a misunderstanding caused by a communication error among staff during the process of delivering the congratulatory orchid. It is true that calls and texts were left for the Democratic Party official," adding, "It is not desirable to politically overinterpret what is essentially a minor incident."
In response, the Democratic Party stated, "There was coordination regarding the visit date through the administrative officer, and we only conveyed that the time proposed by the Presidential Office was difficult," adding, "We did not receive any calls or texts containing names, including those from the political secretary, during that process."
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