Jin Park on Submission of Dismissal Proposal: "Regrettable to Turn Diplomacy into Political Strife"

Foreign Minister Park Jin Responds to Democratic Party's Motion to Dismiss
Regrets Relying on Majority Power and Turning Diplomacy, a National Interest, into Political Strife

[Asia Economy Reporter Inho Yoo] On the 27th, Foreign Minister Park Jin expressed his regret over the Democratic Party of Korea adopting and submitting a motion to dismiss him as a party resolution.

Foreign Minister Park Jin is speaking at the "4th Plenary Meeting and Joint Report Submission Ceremony of the Korea-China Future Development Committee" held on the 24th at The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Before attending the plenary session of the National Assembly that day, Minister Park told reporters, "Diplomacy is the last line of defense for national interests."

Prior to the plenary session, the Democratic Party submitted a motion to dismiss Minister Park to the National Assembly Secretariat, holding him responsible for the controversy surrounding President Yoon Seok-yeol's overseas diplomatic visits.

A motion to dismiss a cabinet member requires the support of at least one-third (100 members) of the total members to propose and a majority (150 members) to pass. The Democratic Party currently holds 169 seats, enabling them to pass the motion on their own.

Minister Park pointed out, "All countries around the world are fiercely competing for survival," and "especially, the international diplomatic and security environment surrounding us is extremely severe."

He added, "In such circumstances, I cannot help but feel truly regretful that the opposition party is relying on the power of the majority for party interests and tactics, turning even diplomacy?the last line of defense for national interests?into a subject of political strife."

Minister Park emphasized, "If diplomacy becomes a political issue, national interests will be damaged, and the harm will inevitably fall directly on the people," and "As the Foreign Minister of this country, I will do my utmost without wavering for the people and national interests."

Earlier, on the 26th, Minister Park appeared on a broadcast and said regarding the controversy over President Yoon Seok-yeol’s use of profanity during his attendance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, "I did not hear any profanity."

Minister Park, who was nearby when President Yoon made the remarks, explained the situation at the time in response to the host’s question, "Did profanity come out or not?" by saying, "There were a lot of people there, and there was a lot of noise," adding that he was hurriedly leaving the venue at that moment.

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