Yoon's Silent Message on the Second Day of the 'Text Scandal'

Attendance at Ulsan Jeongjo Daewang Ship Launch Ceremony... Doorstepping Skipped Again
Aftermath of Text Message Disclosure... People Power Party Supreme Council Meeting Postponed by One Day
Lee Cheol-gyu "Yangduguyuk? A Matter to Laugh Out Loud"... Yoon Core Faction vs. Lee Jun-seok Clash Again

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Baek Kyunghwan and Lee Hyunju] The fallout from the text message scandal involving President Yoon Seok-yeol and Kwon Seong-dong, acting leader of the People Power Party and floor leader, has not subsided even on the third day. Despite Kwon’s repeated apologies and attempts by the presidential office to contain the situation, the unintended exposure of ‘Yoon’s mind’ has led to calls for President Yoon himself to make a statement and bring the controversy to a close. Following yesterday, on the 28th, President Yoon headed to the field rather than the Yongsan Presidential Office building and did not hold a brief press conference with reporters. The People Power Party leadership, including Acting Leader Kwon, also left Yeouido and entered a period of regrouping.

On the same day, President Yoon participated in the launching ceremony of the ‘Jeongjo the Great’ warship held at Ulsan Hyundai Heavy Industries. This marked his second consecutive day visiting the site following the 4th Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting the previous day. Since the ‘internal backstabbing’ text messages were made public, it has coincidentally become impossible for him to answer questions on his way to work. A presidential office official reiterated the position that "usually, on days with external schedules, the president does not do doorstepping (Q&A on the way to work)," emphasizing that this is not an avoidance tactic.

However, public interest in the so-called ‘text scandal’ is intensifying. Even Choi Young-beom, the presidential office’s chief public relations officer, expressed discomfort, saying, "It is highly undesirable that private conversation contents were exposed for whatever reason." Both opposition and ruling party members are saying that President Yoon needs to step in to manage the situation. Among the presidential aides, opinions are divided between those who believe President Yoon should intervene to end the controversy and those who question whether it is appropriate for the president to reveal his feelings about the emotionally charged texts, given that Acting Leader Kwon has already apologized three times and the presidential office has issued a statement.

Kwon, another key figure in this incident, also attended the launching ceremony with President Yoon and did not carry out official National Assembly duties. The Supreme Council meeting, usually held every Monday and Thursday, is expected to be postponed by a day. It was anticipated that the council would discuss the appointment of two Supreme Council members nominated by Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo at this meeting, but no agenda has been set yet.

The ruling party remains in a state of unrest. In particular, there is analysis that Kwon’s future position may be determined depending on how this situation is resolved. On a radio interview that day, People Power Party Assemblyman Ha Tae-kyung said, "Support ratings are already low, and this is having a negative impact, so how to recover from this has become a very big challenge."

The unresolved friction between Yoon’s core aides (Yoonhaekgwan) and Party Leader Lee Jun-seok is also fueling the aftershocks of the text scandal. After Leader Lee criticized Yoonhaekgwan by mentioning ‘yangduguyuk’ (a Korean idiom meaning ‘a dog’s head with a sheep’s meat’?something that looks good on the outside but is bad inside) along with a photo of Ulleungdo the previous day, Assemblyman Lee Cheol-gyu posted on Facebook, "Yangduguyuk? It’s laughable that someone who said they would leave the Earth is still misleading people and disturbing the world." This was a jab at Leader Lee’s past remark on a broadcast last March, before President Yoon joined the People Power Party, where he said, "If former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol becomes president, I will leave the Earth."

The bigger problem is that the achievements of President Yoon and economic ministries to revive the livelihood economy are being overshadowed by internal controversies. On this day as well, President Yoon said about the ‘Jeongjo the Great’ warship, "As the Navy’s first 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer, it possesses not only detection and tracking capabilities for ballistic missiles but also interception capabilities, strengthening the Navy’s combat power as a national strategic asset of the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system." He added, "The government will nurture the defense industry as an advanced strategic industry leading economic growth." However, public attention remains sharply focused on the potential additional impact of the text message scandal.

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