Moon-Yoon Dinner Meeting After 19 Days... Candid Talk on Supplementary Budget and Pardons

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol will have their first meeting after the presidential election at 6 p.m. on the 28th at the Blue House. Attention is focused on whether issues such as the supplementary budget (추경) and the pardon of former President Lee Myung-bak will be discussed during this dinner meeting.

The Blue House and the transition team stated in a briefing the day before that the meeting would proceed without a set agenda, but it is highly likely that the second supplementary budget issue will be mentioned.

Kim Eun-hye, spokesperson for the President-elect, said in a morning briefing, "President-elect Yoon intends to approach this with an attitude of taking unlimited responsibility for the people's livelihood above all else," adding, "There are many pressing livelihood issues, but especially the COVID-19 loss compensation promised to the public is expected to request cooperation and support from the Blue House." The government had previously stated that it would not submit a second supplementary budget bill to the National Assembly during President Moon's term.

Additionally, it is expected that the pardon issue of former President Lee Myung-bak, which President-elect Yoon has publicly declared he will propose in the interest of national unity, as well as the execution of contingency funds related to the office relocation and personnel matters, will be broadly discussed.

At the meeting, Chief Presidential Secretary Yoo Young-min and Chief Secretary to the President-elect Jang Je-won will be present. The face-to-face meeting between President Moon and President-elect Yoon is the first in 21 months since the Anti-Corruption Policy Council held at the Blue House in June 2020. It is the latest meeting among all past presidents and president-elects, occurring just 19 days after the election.

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