"Absurd Logic... Don't Be Misled"
"Kishida Japanese PM Coordinating Agenda for Visit to Korea"
The Presidential Office on the 1st responded to the opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, mentioning 'suspicions of martial law preparations,' calling it an "irrational false political offensive."
A senior official from the Presidential Office met with reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the same day and addressed Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's remarks during the opening statement at the ruling and opposition party leaders' meeting, where he said, "Recently, the talk of martial law keeps coming up. It's a perfect dictatorship."
The official stated, "Claiming martial law that does not exist and that the government would not implement can only be seen as a political offensive," adding, "Even if martial law were declared, it would be immediately lifted by the National Assembly, so the claim about martial law is illogical."
He continued, "Looking at the current structure of the National Assembly, even if martial law were declared, it would obviously be lifted immediately, and there would be a huge backlash, so why would anyone do that? It is not common sense," he added. The Presidential Office official referred to the 2018 controversy over the military's martial law preparations by the Defense Security Command, saying, "At that time, President Moon Jae-in, who was abroad, urgently ordered an investigation, and hundreds were investigated and prosecuted, but not a single person was even indicted on charges," pointing out, "As a result, only the counterintelligence personnel were reduced, and our counterintelligence capabilities were significantly damaged."
He also said, "We hope our citizens will not be misled by such false political offensives," and added, "We ask the military personnel who may feel frustrated and hurt by these offensives not to be overly concerned and to carry out their fundamental duty of protecting the nation."
Meanwhile, regarding Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Korea, the Presidential Office stated, "We are in the final stages of coordinating the specific schedule and final agenda."
Regarding Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Korea, a Presidential Office official said, "Nothing is decided immediately, but if the restoration of Korea-China relations continues as it is now, such a situation could arise." He added, "Following the Korea-Japan-China summit and the Korea-China summit held in Seoul last May, mutual high-level and working-level exchanges and communications have continued," and noted, "It is true that China, unlike previous years, is interested in restoring normal Korea-China relations."
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