Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the People Power Party, stated on the 23rd, "Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun must take responsibility for failing to protect the lives and safety of our citizens and clarify his position." Song, who had departed for Cambodia on the 21st for an on-site audit by the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, returned to Korea on this day.
At a press briefing held at Incheon International Airport that morning, Song said, "Korean citizens are being kidnapped, detained, and even found dead one after another, after becoming entangled in various crimes such as voice phishing and romance scams in a distant foreign country. The diplomatic authorities under the Lee Jaemyung administration have responded with incompetence and irresponsibility."
Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the People Power Party and member of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, is interviewed by the press on the 22nd (local time) after touring a crime area located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo by Yonhap News
He added, "The first official report sent by the embassy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters on August 11 included the statement, 'It is believed that the victim died of a heart attack after suffering severe pain from torture.' However, Minister Cho responded during the audit that he only recognized the seriousness of the situation 'about last week.' Is he lying to the public?"
Song especially identified the four-month vacancy in the ambassador post to Cambodia as the fundamental cause of the current crisis, stating, "Despite the embassy receiving more than 330 reports of confinement by August this year, there has been a total failure in overall management, as even proper categorization of these incidents has not been carried out."
Regarding the Korea-US customs negotiations, he pointed out, "The original sin was promising 350 billion dollars at the outset." On the issue of the United States demanding a higher cash ratio, he said, "If we do not make investments in the US in cash, it is entirely possible to consider providing loans to US companies through policy finance institutions or investing foreign capital with guarantees."
When asked about Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ji-won's call for the resignation of Lee Sangkyung, the First Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, over his controversial remarks to 'buy when housing prices fall' and allegations of gap investment, Song said, "Even within the Democratic Party, they must think there are serious problems. He should make his own decision regarding his position."
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