Lee Cheol-hee "Reports on Moon's Japan Visit Promotion Are for Japanese Domestic Politics... Not Common Sense"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Lee Cheol-hee, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House, criticized reports from Japanese media about President Moon Jae-in's planned visit to Japan as "not common sense," claiming that "Prime Minister Suga is using us for domestic political purposes."

On the 17th, Lee appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "Even something like that is leaked by the Japanese government. Diplomacy requires having partners and showing respect to other countries," expressing his views.

He accused them of leaking unconfirmed information to the media as a form of 'media play.' Lee said, "Prime Minister Suga and the Japanese ruling party must be facing tough domestic circumstances, so they keep dragging us into their domestic politics," adding, "Former Prime Minister Abe turned the tide by attacking Korea during crises, and Suga is using the same tactics."

Regarding whether the visit to Japan is being pushed forward, he said, "I cannot confirm it," but added, "Overall, since we are currently progressing with the peace process, we are considering and trying to implement various methods and ideas that fit with it."

On Prime Minister Suga's cancellation of a brief meeting planned during the G7 summit, Lee said, "I don't know if it was due to domestic political factors in Japan, but it is unpleasant to see them continuously making absurd remarks and showing a belittling attitude," adding, "People in diplomatic channels are suffering silently without showing their feelings."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee also revealed that although he met with Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, the day before to discuss cooperation, there was no proposal for a summit meeting. Lee said, "Leader Lee did not request a one-on-one dialogue," and "Considering the political issues at hand, it might be more urgent for party leaders to gather and resolve the issues collectively rather than having a one-on-one meeting with the opposition leader."

He also disclosed that the 'Youth Special Minister' proposed by Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was an idea that had been considered at the Blue House. Lee said, "Honestly, we had considered (a youth minister)," adding, "There were various ideas to solve youth issues, and this was one of them."

However, he explained that due to issues such as amendments to the Government Organization Act, the promotion of this idea remains uncertain. Lee said, "'Whether this is really possible' is a concern because it requires changing the Government Organization Act," adding, "With less than a year left in the current administration, changing the Government Organization Act to create a new ministerial position might not be well received regardless of our intentions, so we are hesitant."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.