Breaking Silence After Inauguration, Lee Jae-myung... Accelerating Opposition Leadership Formation, Full Response to Investigation Political Climate

Direct Response at Pre-Top Appointment Backbriefing
Sharp Remarks Made During Government and Ruling Party Courtesy Visit
Party-Level Full-Scale Response to Prosecutor Investigation Underway

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who had remained silent, has begun to speak out in earnest since taking office as party leader. Amid ongoing investigative pressure from the prosecution and police, it is analyzed that he is directly responding to various negatives and aiming to strengthen his power as the 'opposition party leadership.'

On the 29th of last month, Lee held his first Supreme Council meeting and, when asked by reporters about the Supreme Council members' push for the 'Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act,' he said, "It would be better to ask the spokesperson for their opinion," withholding his comments. He also avoided answering questions related to personnel appointments and his meeting with President Moon Jae-in that day.

Although he did not respond to official backbriefing requests afterward, on the 31st, ahead of the announcement of appointments for the Secretary-General and Policy Committee Chair, he met with reporters at the National Assembly and directly said, "We will announce it today." After the announcement, when asked by reporters, he said, "(The next appointments) will be as early as Friday," emphasizing his earlier intention to appoint a Honam region figure to the nominated Supreme Council member position. Unlike his previous reticence to reporters' questions, he responded affirmatively to questions related to the personnel announcement that day.

Meanwhile, Lee demonstrated his presence with pointed remarks during consecutive visits to the National Assembly. In particular, he took the initiative to point out issues such as the comprehensive real estate tax negotiations with the ruling party and government budget matters. On the 31st, during a visit to Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party and party leader, he mentioned the status of the comprehensive real estate tax negotiations, saying, "I told the party to adopt a cooperative attitude as much as possible," but also urged, "But do not have excessively greedy demands."

Then, during a meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on the 1st, he sharply criticized the budget issue, stating, "If the budget is insufficient, it is common sense to think about increasing finances, so I do not understand why they want to cut taxes for large corporations with operating profits exceeding 300 billion won." He also asked Prime Minister Han, "Is that not your thought, Prime Minister?"

Lee, who had consistently remained silent outside official occasions since his candidacy for party leader, appears to have broken his silence to directly respond to the government's and ruling party's offensives and to strengthen his power as the 'opposition party leadership.' Currently, the prosecution has requested Lee, who was reported for violating the Public Official Election Act, to come to the prosecution office for investigation.

At the party level, there has been a full-fledged response to protect Lee, including protesting the prosecution's summons as "political oppression." A representative from Lee's side explained the investigation situation by the prosecution and police, saying, "The police estimate the maximum amount related to Kim Hye-kyung's alleged misuse of the corporate card to be 1.8 million won, but it is being 'inflated' to 20 million won," adding, "There are parts that are not true and need to be clearly addressed."

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