Presidential Office on Claims of 'Yoon's Residence Isolation': "Absurd Lies... Should Not Be Used for Political Strife"

Democratic Party Points Out 'Lack of Crisis Management Skills'... Presidential Office "Receiving Real-Time Damage Reports"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Presidential Office expressed strong regret over opposition parties' claims that President Yoon Seok-yeol was isolated at his residence and unable to do anything during the heavy rain damage, calling them "absurd lies." It was explained that President Yoon monitored the heavy rain damage in the central region in real-time until dawn, and he also stated that "national disasters should not be used as a political battleground."

On the 9th, a Presidential Office official said at a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office, "The criticism that the president was not visible during yesterday's heavy rain is completely untrue," adding, "President Yoon received real-time reports and issued guidelines and instructions from 9 p.m. yesterday until 3 a.m. today, and again started receiving reports from 6 a.m. today and ordered an emergency countermeasure meeting."

Earlier, the Democratic Party of Korea criticized the Yoon Seok-yeol administration for failing to properly fulfill the role of the 'disaster control tower' in relation to the record-breaking heavy rain in the central region the previous day. In particular, they linked the fact that President Yoon received reports from Prime Minister Han Duck-soo by phone at his residence and issued instructions to the issue of relocating the presidential office, pointing out a lack of crisis management capability. Democratic Party spokesperson Jo Oh-seop said, "What can a president isolated at home check through a phone call?" and added, "The people watching the president trapped at home and unable to do anything during a disaster are devastated."

However, the Presidential Office rebutted the criticism that the president did not visit the site during the damage, saying, "All personnel were fully engaged in on-site response, and if the president moved to the site or situation room, he would inevitably have to pay attention to reports and protocol, which could reduce response capabilities, according to internal judgment." They judged that if President Yoon made a symbolic visit or took separate actions from the prime minister, on-site response effectiveness could decline.

Earlier, spokesperson Kang In-sun also issued a rebuttal statement, saying that making false claims to attack the relocation of the presidential office is an irresponsible act by the main opposition party that ignores the suffering of the people, and urged bipartisan measures instead of political strife.

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