Yoon on South Korea's Request: "I Will Handle Personnel Reshuffle... Regret Issuance of Summons for Mrs. Kim Keon-hee"

"Issuance of Accompaniment Order, the True Face of One-Party Dictatorship in the Assembly"
To Korean Representative: "Political Attacks Must Be Met with Politics"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 21st, President Yoon Suk-yeol responded to People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon’s request during a meeting for a personnel reshuffle in the presidential office related to First Lady Kim Keon-hee by saying, "Personnel reshuffles are something I must handle," and added, "If someone has committed a wrongdoing, they need to specify exactly what the problem is for me to take action." He also expressed strong regret over the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, led by opposition parties including the Democratic Party, passing a resolution to issue a summons order for First Lady Kim, calling it "the true face of one-party dictatorship in the legislature."

A presidential office official, speaking to reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the morning of the 22nd, said regarding the approximately 80-minute meeting between President Yoon and Leader Han the previous day, "The president questioned whether it is appropriate for the presidential office to engage in fights over absurd suspicions, even if he wants to respond," and mentioned that the president asked Leader Han, "It would be good if the party could fight alongside us." The official conveyed, "The president hopes the party will actively respond to various suspicions," and added, "He said political offensives should be met with political responses." The official further explained, "President Yoon diagnosed today’s crisis as a political situation crisis," and said, "The success lies in the party and government becoming one and making the government succeed. What is needed is to boldly speak to the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs and strengthen communication between the party and government."

Regarding Leader Han’s demand for First Lady Kim to suspend her activities, President Yoon said, "The First Lady is also having a hard time and has already been refraining from non-essential official protocol events, and will continue to do so," adding, "She has already reduced her activities significantly, but since it is said to be excessive, she intends to restrain herself even more going forward." On the request for cooperation in clarifying suspicions, President Yoon stated, "To investigate suspicions, there must be objective charges," and referenced his own experience as Prosecutor General, where he avoided family issues and tried to resolve them through lawyers. Regarding the appointment of a special inspector, President Yoon mentioned that the Democratic Party has linked the appointment to the recommendation of directors for the North Korean Human Rights Foundation, saying, "This is a matter to be decided through bipartisan agreement."

About the atmosphere of the meeting, a presidential office official said, "President Yoon and Leader Han said everything they needed to say," and refuted reports from some media that "the president had no response while Leader Han spoke," stating, "President Yoon listened to Leader Han and responded in a calm tone, and the speaking ratio was about 6 to 4 in favor of the president, so Leader Han did say what he wanted." The official also evaluated the meeting’s outcome by saying, "If there is any achievement, it is that the president and the ruling party leader had an open and candid conversation," and added, "The call to prevent constitutional violations and unify the party and government holds significant meaning." Regarding the establishment of a second secretariat to assist the First Lady, the official said, "The president did not mention the second secretariat during yesterday’s meeting," but added, "However, the outline of the second secretariat is expected to be revealed around early November."

Regarding the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, led by opposition parties including the Democratic Party, passing a resolution to issue a summons order for the First Lady, presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon criticized in a briefing that day, "Witnesses unfavorable to the Democratic Party were thoroughly excluded, and only witnesses favorable to them were selectively chosen, resulting in about 100 witnesses and reference persons including the First Lady for this audit," and pointed out, "Issuing a summons order on top of this is a typical example of old-fashioned political show aimed at humiliating the president’s wife and dragging her through the mud." She further criticized, "We strongly regret the Democratic Party’s low and violent political behavior, which, to protect the party leader facing a first trial verdict on serious criminal charges, has gone beyond impeaching prosecutors and intimidating the judiciary to recklessly issuing summons orders for special prosecutors."