Park Suhyun, Cheong Wa Dae Senior Secretary: "President Moon's Self-Praise? If There Are Untrue Points, Criticize with Evidence"

President Moon's 'Dialogue with the People'... Opposition Criticizes as "Broken Radio"
Park Soo-hyun: "Criticize with Evidence... Please Do Not Disparage the People's Achievements"

Park Su-hyun, Senior Secretary for Public Communication at the Blue House [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] When the opposition party criticized the 'Dialogue with the People' featuring President Moon Jae-in as 'self-praise,' Park Soo-hyun, the Blue House Chief of Public Communication, stated, "It should not go as far as belittling the achievements made by our people," and urged, "Criticize with evidence."

Earlier, on the 21st, President Moon appeared on the 'Dialogue with the People, Back to Daily Life' held at the KBS New Building Public Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, communicating with the public on topics such as overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, quarantine measures, and the livelihood economy.

The People Power Party (PPP) harshly criticized this. Im Seung-ho, spokesperson for the PPP, said in a verbal comment that day, "It felt like watching a rerun of the 2019 'Dialogue with the People' that failed to show awareness of the reality of the suffering people are enduring," adding, "(President Moon) thoroughly ignored the people's suffering and can only be remembered as a Don Quixote president lost in his own illusions."

Prior to this, the PPP also criticized President Moon's last policy speech on the 25th of last month as 'self-praise.' Heo Eun-ah, senior spokesperson for the PPP, released a statement saying, "It seems the Moon Jae-in administration adopted the new phrase 'Boksepyunsal' (living comfortably in a complicated world) as its concept," and "Even in the final budget policy speech, they keep playing self-praise like a broken radio."

Regarding this, on the morning of the 22nd, Chief Park, in an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' was asked about criticisms that the communication was full of self-praise. He responded, "(President Moon) said he did not claim the achievements as solely those of the Moon Jae-in administration," adding, "These are achievements of past administrations and our people, and if we belittle them ourselves, it is disrespectful to the people."

He continued, "Self-praise expresses the embarrassment of talking about one's own deeds, and furthermore, it involves distorting or exaggerating facts," and said, "If there are parts of President Moon's statements, Blue House briefings, or government remarks that are untrue or exaggerated, I want to ask for rebuttals based on evidence." He also emphasized, "We will accept criticism, but the essence is to take pride in the achievements of our people."

President Moon Jae-in is answering questions from citizen panelists at the 2021 Dialogue with the People 'Back to Daily Life' held on the afternoon of the 21st at the KBS Open Hall in Yeouido, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Chief Park also addressed criticisms directed at him for 'lack of communication.' He said, "I even run a Facebook series called 'Presidential Stories Not in the Briefing,' but some say I am singing the 'Moonbiecheonga' (a song praising Moon), and criticize me as 'Chief of Non-Communication' rather than 'Chief of Communication,'" adding, "Criticism is fine, but if there is anything untrue among all these, I hope it will be criticized with evidence."

Finally, regarding Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, withdrawing his request for nationwide disaster relief funds, he said, "It is a vision to further develop the shortcomings of the current government's policies. It is very inappropriate for the Blue House to evaluate this as this or that," and added, "Not only the ruling party candidate but also opposition candidates are naturally and understandably doing so."

When asked if the ruling party candidate's differentiation strategy is disappointing, Chief Park replied, "It is natural." He said, "I accept 200% criticism of what our government, the Moon Jae-in administration, does wrong."

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