President Yoon's Briefing... Ruling Party "Complete Reform" vs Opposition "Self-Praise"

The ruling and opposition parties showed contrasting reactions to President Yoon Suk-yeol's national briefing. While the ruling party expressed willingness to cooperate with the reform plans proposed by President Yoon, including pension reform, the opposition party criticized it as mere self-praise.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is holding a 'National Briefing and Press Conference' on the morning of the 29th at the briefing room of the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Han Ji-a, the chief spokesperson of the People Power Party, stated in a commentary on the 29th, "President Yoon, marking his third year in office, explained the achievements of his administration so far and presented the future direction and blueprint for national governance." She added, "As a responsible ruling party, the People Power Party will do its best to complete the 4+1 reforms together with the government so that the people can feel the changes." The 4+1 reforms refer to pension, labor, medical, and education reforms, as well as overcoming the low birthrate crisis.

Han evaluated, "President Yoon showed a strong will to revive livelihoods by focusing on improving the lives of the people and welfare for the vulnerable that the public can feel." She continued, "The pension reform was proposed in a way that minimizes social conflict by considering both 'intergenerational equity' and 'sustainability'." Furthermore, she emphasized, "Regarding medical reform, it was aligned with the essence of revitalizing essential regional medical services and also presented effective measures to resolve medical gaps. Now, it is time for the political circles to respond."

On the other hand, the opposition party harshly criticized President Yoon's briefing. Cho Seung-rae, the chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the same day, saying, "The one-sided national briefing and press conference proceeded without a single word of apology for the worsening livelihoods and medical crisis causing anxiety and suffering among the people." He added, "President Yoon's lack of communication, autocracy, and obstinacy were reaffirmed." He emphasized, "It was full of self-praise that no citizen could accept," and "There was no hope to restore the suffering livelihoods and regressing democracy."

Cho also negatively evaluated the reform plans proposed by President Yoon. He said, "The directions of the four major reforms are abstract and only superficially appealing, so it is unclear what they actually intend to do." He added, "It is regrettable that while the content of the reforms was not properly disclosed, only the thickness of the briefing materials was emphasized." He further pointed out, "Even in the direction of pension reform, there was no plan to strengthen income security that the people desire," and "The whole country is in emergency due to medical collapse, but I feel despair at the president's perception of reality, such as claiming that the emergency response system is operating smoothly."

Moreover, he criticized, "In the case of the investigation pressure on the fallen marine, there are successive indications of presidential office involvement, but the claim that no such facts were found is outrageous." He also said, "Regarding the investigation special treatment suspicions involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee, the family avoided answering thoroughly, saying they should not comment."

The Justice Innovation Party expressed the opinion that it was "disheartening." Kim Bo-hyeop, the chief spokesperson of the Justice Innovation Party, said, "With the already started medical crisis, the people are suffering from anxiety, nervousness, and anger-induced illness, but President Yoon seems to be living in a different world alone."

President Yoon held the national briefing and press conference at the Yongsan Presidential Office building on the morning of the day. This official press conference is the second since the two-year anniversary press conference held after the May 4 and 10 general election defeat.