청, Officially Confirms Meeting with Lee Jae-myung... Opposition Raises Concerns over 'Political Neutrality'

청, Caution Against Politicized Interpretation of Daejang-dong Message... Position That Mention of Swift Investigation Is a Principled Statement

[Asia Economy Reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Geum Bo-ryeong] The Blue House has effectively formalized a meeting between President Moon Jae-in and Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate (currently Governor of Gyeonggi Province), drawing attention to the political background. While it has the effect of offsetting controversies over attempts to check candidate Lee, it is expected to spark new debates surrounding the president's duty of political neutrality.

On the 12th, the Blue House announced that it would discuss the meeting request from candidate Lee’s side, which is being interpreted as a de facto acceptance. This differs from showing a negative or reserved stance regarding a meeting between the president and the ruling party’s presidential candidate. Based on this trend at the Blue House, the possibility of a meeting between President Moon and candidate Lee has increased.

Earlier, on the 12th, President Moon stated regarding the Daejang-dong incident, "The prosecution and police should actively cooperate and devote all efforts to swiftly and thoroughly investigating to promptly ascertain the substantive truth." Some speculated that this mention was an attempt to distance himself from candidate Lee, but the Blue House cautioned against political overinterpretation.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon’s call for a swift investigation is a principled and general message. However, it is known that the use of the term "stern" before the conclusion of the primary was intended to avoid the political exploitation of President Moon’s remarks related to Daejang-dong during the ruling party’s primary.

The specific schedule and method of the meeting between President Moon and candidate Lee are expected to be finalized after the Democratic Party’s Executive Committee meeting on the 13th, which will be a turning point in the primary controversy. It is also noteworthy that the system of ‘President = ruling party leader,’ which was maintained until the Kim Dae-jung administration, was abolished alongside discussions on reforming the imperial presidency.

The meeting between the president and the ruling party’s presidential candidate could escalate into a political controversy. In fact, presidential candidates from the People Power Party criticized the Blue House and candidate Lee’s meeting as a "wrong meeting."

On the 12th, Representative Hong Joon-pyo criticized on Facebook, "The president’s role is to manage a fair presidential election, but holding a secret meeting with a specific party’s candidate could raise suspicions that the president is interfering in the election."

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl also pointed out, "It is contradictory to call for a thorough investigation of the Daejang-dong gate and then meet with candidate Lee, who is the central figure of suspicion." Former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong expressed considerable suspicion about candidate Lee’s purpose in requesting the meeting and pointed to its connection with the Daejang-dong incident.

Considering such opposition from the opposition party, even if the meeting between President Moon and candidate Lee takes place, both the format of the meeting and the topics discussed are expected to be subject to restrictions.

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