Democratic Party: "If President Yoon Seok-yeol Does Not Apologize, We Cannot Accept the Policy Speech on the 25th" (Comprehensive)

'Lee XX' Slur, Insult to the National Assembly... Cannot Comply Peacefully with the Policy Speech
Investigation Targeting Lee Includes Political Intent to Drag It Out Until the General Election

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 23rd, "We cannot overlook the situation where the president delivers the policy speech as if nothing happened amid continuous disregard for the National Assembly and oppression of the opposition party," adding, "If President Yoon Seok-yeol does not offer even the minimum apology to restore trust, we can never tolerate the president's policy speech."

On the same day, Park held a press briefing at the National Assembly and criticized, "When the controversy over the vulgar term 'iXX' arose, the presidential office explained it was an insult to the opposition party, not the U.S. Congress, and after making remarks about pro-North Korean Joo-sa-pa, he deceived the public by saying he knows well whether he is part of Joo-sa-pa or not," adding, "However, President Yoon has neither apologized nor expressed regret."

Park questioned, "After all that, does he intend to call the policy speech filled with empty words like parliamentary democracy, cooperation, and freedom?" and urged, "We call on President Yoon Seok-yeol to apologize to the public and the National Assembly for ignoring the legislature and oppressing the opposition party."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He reiterated, "If there is not even the minimum apology to restore trust, the Democratic Party will never tolerate the president's policy speech."

In response to reporters' questions about whether they are considering a boycott, Park said, "Regarding 'iXX,' isn't it an insult to the National Assembly? It is a direct denial of the legislative branch," adding, "The Democratic Party cannot readily accept the president's policy speech. We will decide specifically after seeing whether there is a sincere response from the president."

Regarding the 'Daejang-dong Special Prosecutor Act,' he said, "There will be discussions with floor leaders tomorrow (24th)," adding, "We will discuss what to do after hearing the ruling party's position along with drafting the bill."

He explained, "Among the numerous suspicions surrounding First Lady Kim Keon-hee, we have proposed a special prosecutor bill concerning the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation suspicion, the Kobana Contents bribery sponsorship suspicion, and the falsification of career records," adding, "We continue to urge the government and ruling party to accept it." He continued, "During the last presidential election, the Daejang-dong Special Prosecutor Act was proposed under the name of former floor leader Yoon Ho-jung," adding, "If there are shortcomings, the proposal process should be undertaken again. The content is being carefully reviewed."

He added, "Representative Lee Jae-myung has consistently said since the presidential election that resolving this through a special prosecutor is better for the people and livelihood," and criticized, "Recently, despite deploying nearly 400 personnel, including about 100 prosecutors, for about a year, they have failed to uncover anything related to Daejang-dong. I believe there is a political intention to prolong the investigation until the upcoming general election."

Meanwhile, regarding voices within the party calling for 'Lee Jae-myung's voluntary resignation and accountability,' including former Supreme Council member Kim Hae-young, he dismissed them as "individual lawmakers' positions."

However, Jin Sung-jun, senior deputy floor leader, said, "I do not know on what grounds they judge that he should step down from the stage of history," adding, "I do not know if they are causing internal party strife with premature judgments. They should exercise restraint."

Jin also wrote on Facebook that day, "I cannot help but deeply worry about those who are not in a position to know the substantive truth of the case causing controversy with hasty judgments regarding the prosecution's investigation targeting party leader Lee Jae-myung," adding, "I cannot understand the behavior that seems to trust the prosecution's investigation more than the innocence of a comrade. I hope they refrain from reckless remarks that could cause internal party strife."

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