Lee Jun-seok: "Not being able to confirm even if North Korea fires missiles is a security gap"

"Incumbent Should Not Check Successor President, Not the Right Direction"
"Moon Has Duty to Cooperate with Transition Committee for Next Government Launch"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 21st and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jung-wan] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, criticized former President Moon Jae-in's concerns about a "security gap" related to the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan, saying, "(The Moon administration) could not even call North Korea's missile launches missiles, and when trying to conduct South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, they refrained from doing so out of consideration for other countries."

On the morning of the 22nd, Lee appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" and said, "This is precisely what is called a security gap."

Regarding the Blue House's negative stance on President-elect Yoon's plan to relocate the presidential office, he said, "Usually, opposition to the Government Organization Act is rare," and added, "In the case of relocating the presidential office, creating an environment to work should not be subject to checks by the former president against the successor."

He also emphasized that there is no problem with the security system, saying, "Regarding the Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff relocation, for command efficiency, the U.S. military bases are all moving down to Pyeongtaek, and the command post should be moved near Namtaeryeong. This has been discussed for quite some time, separate from the Yongsan office relocation."

Lee further stated, "President Moon Jae-in has an obligation to cooperate with the transition team of the next government," and explained, "The transition team is an organization that the previous government must support thoroughly according to the plans of the incoming president."

He continued, "Saying that the contingency funds belong to the Moon administration is nonsense," adding, "When last year's budget was passed, it was known that presidential power would be transferred in May, so the contingency funds were not for the Moon administration but were allocated as contingency funds for our government to use throughout this year."

Earlier, the Blue House expressed concerns about President-elect Yoon's plan to relocate the presidential office to Yongsan, stating, "The plan to relocate the Ministry of National Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Presidential Security Service within a short period is somewhat unreasonable."

Park Soo-hyun, Blue House Senior Secretary for Public Communication, said at a briefing following the expanded National Security Council (NSC) ministerial meeting, "We need to carefully consider concerns that the sudden relocation of the unprepared Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as the Blue House Crisis Management Center, could cause security gaps and confusion."

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