Lee Jae-myung and Cho Kuk, who won a landslide victory in the pan-opposition general election, proposed a meeting… Will the ‘suspect’ respond this time?

Cho Kuk: “We await a response from the Yongsan Presidential Office.”
Jaemyung Lee “Of course we have to talk… “It’s just a shame I couldn’t do it.”
President Yong, cooperation is inevitable for the remaining three years of his term.

While the opposition party, including the Democratic Party of Korea, won a landslide victory, taking 192 seats in the 22nd National Assembly election, attention is focused on whether President Yoon Seok-yeol will respond to the opposition party’s repeated proposals for summit talks, including Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Cho Kuk, leader of the Fatherland Innovation Party. .

According to the political world on the 14th, Representative Cho posted a message on his social networking service (SNS) that day and said, “As the representative of the third party in the National Assembly, I hope to meet President Yoon at any time and in any form.” “He was seen as a ‘suspect,’” he said. “He must have believed that if he used the prosecution to catch his political opponents, he would easily win the general election and regain power. It was a lousy and lame idea. He pointed out, “President Yoon’s goal was aborted, and the national power suffered a crushing defeat in the general election.” He continued, “As the representative of the third largest party in the National Assembly, I hope to be able to meet President Yoon at any time and in any format,” and added, “There is something I want to say firmly and politely at a public meeting. “We await a response from the Yongsan Presidential Office to this disclosure request,” he added.

The Fatherland Innovation Party secured 12 proportional representation seats in the April 10 general election and made waves as the ‘third largest party in the National Assembly’ in the 22nd National Assembly. The Democratic Party of Korea, which won the majority on its own, also needs the help of the Homeland Innovation Party to secure 180 seats, which is the requirement for fast-tracking, like in the previous 21st National Assembly.

Due to the results of the general election, in which the ‘government judgment theory’ was confirmed, there was a strong demand for change in state administration. From the perspective of President Yoon, who will not be able to escape the ruling party-Soviet politics for the remaining three years of his term, he must also consider whether to cooperate with Representative Cho. Due to the ruling party’s loss of control over the presidency following the results of the general election, there are predictions that the ‘lame duck’ (power leakage) will accelerate without President Yoon’s major change. Attention is being paid to whether President Yoon, who has not met even once with Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myeong over the past two years, will agree to a meeting with the two opposition party leaders.

Previously, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, visited the Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul on the 12th and said, “Of course we should meet (President Yoon) and have a conversation, but it’s just a shame that we couldn’t do it until now.” He said he would “meet, talk, and negotiate” with the Fatherland Innovation Party as soon as possible.

When asked by reporters, “Are you planning on proposing a meeting with Young-soo again?” Rep. Lee said, “I’ve always said that until now,” and added, “Of course, President Yoon, who is in charge of this country’s state affairs, will also need cooperation and cooperation with the opposition party.” He said.

Representative Lee continued, “If the goal is to defeat the opposition party, there is no need to talk or respect, but if you consider that the National Assembly is another axis that leads national affairs and that the separation of powers is the basis of this country’s constitutional order, it is necessary to respect, communicate, and disagree. “It is right that we have to compromise on these areas,” he said, adding, “Isn’t that the basic constitutional order of the Democratic Republic of Korea?”

Regarding the Fatherland Innovation Party, which emerged as the third party in the National Assembly in this general election, Representative Lee said, “Of course we must meet and discuss necessary matters. “We are still communicating to this day,” he said.

Representative Lee proposed a meeting with President Yoon several times, but they were all rejected, calling it a “bulletproof strategy.”

Representative Lee, who was appointed as the new party leader in August 2022, expressed his intention to meet with the leader several times from his first acceptance speech, saying, “I will meet with President Yoon and ask him to jointly pursue policies for people’s livelihood.” In each such case, President Yoon has repeatedly expressed his intention to ‘no response’ or ‘deny’ through the mouth of the President’s Office or directly.

Each time, President Yoon avoided the leader-su meeting that Representative Lee had requested, saying, “The expression ‘leader-su’ is not appropriate,” and “let’s move forward by calling it a meeting between the president and the party leader.” The President’s Office maintained a negative stance on meeting one-on-one with Representative Lee, who is a suspect.

In particular, when President Yoon appeared on ‘KBS Special Talk Visiting the President’s Office’ last January, he said, “The President’s Office is separate from the ruling party, so the leadership meeting has long since disappeared. I am willing to meet with the party leadership, but it is difficult because I can ignore the ruling party leadership.” He confirmed his refusal by saying, “I do.”

Some in the ruling party also observed that President Yoon would not engage in dialogue. Park Jeong-hoon, the People Power Party’s elected representative in Songpa-gap, Seoul, appeared on YTN Radio’s ‘News King Park Ji-hoon’ on the 12th and said, “If we do not talk, the president will be trapped in the frame of refusing to talk, and the dilemma is that the president cannot unilaterally surrender because he has his own supporters. “He also analyzed, “I will never meet the president I know.” He continued, “These people are suspects who pose judicial risks and are suspected of crimes, so it is inevitable that it will be burdensome for the president to talk to the suspects and discuss something.”

Reporter Kim Kyung-ho [email protected]

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