Lee Jun-seok: "Half Cabinet Is Democratic Party's Fault... May Proceed with Appointment"

Appeared on KBS Radio stating "Linking Prime Minister and Minister Candidates is Highly Inappropriate"
Also Predicted That Appointment Might Proceed Despite Disqualifying Opinions

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 2nd./National Assembly Press Photographers Group [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Yoonjin Kim] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, criticized the launch of President Yoon Seok-yeol's "half cabinet" as "the fault of the Democratic Party of Korea." In an interview with KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs' on the 11th, Lee said regarding the delay in the approval of Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo and the adoption of personnel hearing reports for ministerial candidates due to opposition from the Democratic Party, "They might push through the appointments despite disqualifying opinions. I hope they do not politicize the approval process and handle it quickly."

When asked by the host, "Was the candidate selection inappropriate?" Lee responded, "First of all, the Prime Minister should be approved. Han Duck-soo was also Prime Minister during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. He is a candidate showing consideration toward the Democratic Party. How do they repay such goodwill?"

He continued, "Political deals like 'If you withdraw someone, we will approve someone' are very inappropriate," expressing displeasure at the 'linkage theory between Prime Minister approval and ministerial appointments.' Some in the political sphere analyze that the Democratic Party is delaying the vote on the Prime Minister nominee's appointment consent bill, which requires National Assembly approval, to block Han Dong-hoon, the Minister of Justice nominee. However, the Democratic Party leadership denies the linkage theory.

When asked if some candidates could be conceded, Lee said, "Many people remember that appointments were pushed through even during the Moon Jae-in administration," implying that appointments could be forced despite disqualifying opinions. He also urged the Democratic Party, saying, "I want to ask them to come out to the dialogue table and have a reasonable conversation so that the public can make a judgment."

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