"We Will Strive to Stabilize State Affairs, Including Support for Acting President Choi"
Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, also Minister of Strategy and Finance, and Chief Presidential Secretary Jeong Jin-seok. Photo by Yonhap News
On the morning of the 19th at 9 a.m., the Presidential Office held a meeting of senior secretaries chaired by Chief Secretary Jeong Jin-seok to discuss future response measures following the detention of President Yoon Seok-yeol.
A Presidential Office official stated, "In response to President Yoon's detention, detailed discussions regarding the role of the Presidential Office will take place," adding, "We plan to actively review security and diplomatic situations, including support from Acting President Choi Sang-mok."
Although the Presidential Office is clearly stunned by the worst-case scenario of President Yoon's detention, it is committed to making every effort to minimize confusion.
With numerous diplomatic issues piling up, including the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the 20th (local time), and North Korea's launch of a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) into the East Sea posing a security threat, closer coordination has become more important.
A Presidential Office official said, "Given the many urgent national affairs, we will do our utmost to support Acting President Choi and make even greater efforts to stabilize the government."
However, the Presidential Office repeatedly expressed regret over the court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for President Yoon, calling it an unfair outcome.
A senior Presidential Office official said early that day, "This result is inconsistent with fairness toward other opposition politicians, and we are concerned it may undermine public trust in the judiciary's impartiality."
Although the Presidential Office did not specifically mention opposition politicians, this is interpreted as referring to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Cho Kuk, former leader of the Innovation Party.
Earlier, Kwon Young-se, Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, also argued that the arrest warrant for President Yoon should be dismissed, citing the cases of Lee and Cho.
On the 17th, Kwon posted on social media, "When the arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition party, was reviewed two years ago, the court dismissed the prosecutor's warrant, stating that as the leader of the main opposition party, he is subject to public scrutiny and criticism, and the suspect's right to defense is important," adding, "Moreover, former lawmaker Cho Kuk was not detained even after being sentenced to prison in the second trial, allowing him to run for election."
Chief Secretary Jeong also represented President Yoon's position on his social media that day, saying, "Whether this is a riot aimed at disrupting the constitutional order or an emergency measure to stop such disruption will ultimately be judged by the people."
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