Sung Il-jong "Is Private Conversation Big News?"... Hong Jun-pyo "President Is Also Human, How Could He Hide His True Feelings?"

Ruling Party Moves to Resolve Controversy Over President Yoon's Text Messages

Kwon Seong-dong, Acting Leader and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, is bowing his head in apology on the 27th in front of the Floor Leader's office at the National Assembly regarding the disclosure of text messages with President Yoon Seok-yeol from the previous day. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Ju-hee] Amid controversy over the text messages exchanged between Kwon Seong-dong, acting leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, and President Yoon Seok-yeol being made public, the ruling party has stepped in to downplay the issue, calling it "just a private conversation."

On the 27th, Seong Il-jong, chairman of the People Power Party's Policy Committee, said in an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' regarding the controversy, "It's just a private matter, so is it really such big news?" He added, "Representative Kwon Seong-dong has issued a statement of apology. Since there is no significant political meaning, I hope people do not overinterpret it."

The day before, during the plenary session of the National Assembly where the government questioning took place, a screen showing Kwon Seong-dong exchanging messages with President Yoon via Telegram was captured by media cameras, sparking controversy. The screen showed the sender labeled as 'President Yoon Seok-yeol' saying, "Our party is doing well too. We should keep it up like this," and "The party leader who used to do internal backstabbing has changed," to which Acting Leader Kwon replied, "I will faithfully follow the President's will and show a united front between the party and the government."

The 'party leader who used to do internal backstabbing' refers to Representative Lee Jun-seok, who was recently suspended from party membership for six months by the party's Ethics Committee due to allegations of sexual bribery. Contrary to President Yoon's previous statements that he would not get involved in the conflicts between Lee and the so-called 'Yunhakkwan' (key aides to President Yoon), the negative sentiment toward Lee was revealed through the conversation with Acting Leader Kwon, who is considered part of the Yunhakkwan. In political circles, suspicions have been raised that the so-called 'Yunshim (Yoon's will)' may have influenced Lee's disciplinary process.

Regarding this, Chairman Seong dismissed the claims, saying, "The idea that Yunshim was at work is all speculation," and added, "It was said as a form of encouragement to the leadership. When having personal conversations, people can say all sorts of things. I hope this is not politically exaggerated."

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo also defended President Yoon in relation to the controversy, saying, "The President is human too." When a question titled "Have you seen President Yoon Seok-yeol's true feelings finally revealed?" was posted on his online communication channel 'Youth's Dream' under 'Cheongmun Hongdap (Youth asks, Hong Joon-pyo answers),' Mayor Hong responded this way.

In a post on Facebook on the 27th, Mayor Hong wrote, "During the presidential election, I mediated twice through the Lee Jun-seok incidents and managed to carry out the election with difficulty. However, even after the regime change, the discord between the Yunhakkwan and Representative Lee continued, as did the discord between Ahn Cheol-soo and Lee Jun-seok, leading to an unstable start from the early days of the administration along with President Yoon's political immaturity. In this situation, since the President is human too, how could he continue to hide his true feelings when the party leader does not lead the party with a unifying leadership but keeps causing internal conflicts?"

Meanwhile, Representative Lee, who visited Ulleungdo Island, expressed displeasure on Facebook, saying, "This island (Ulleungdo) is good because everything is honest as it appears. On that island, when the camera disappears, people open their eyes wide and scold, but when the camera comes in, they come to shake hands with a half-moon smile."

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