Presidential Office Responds to Opposition's Demand to Accept Special Prosecutor: "Matter for Ruling and Opposition to Agree"

Presidential Office: "Government and National Assembly Should Show Caution During Difficult Times for People's Livelihood"

On the 16th, one day before President Yoon Seok-yeol's 100th day in office, the Presidential Office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul is shown. President Yoon, emphasizing the elimination of authoritarianism, moved the stage of state affairs from the former Blue House to Yongsan. With the president's office relocated to Yongsan, the Blue House has been fully opened to the public. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 23rd, the Presidential Office reaffirmed its previous stance regarding the 'Daejang-dong Special Prosecutor' proposed by Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stating that "the special prosecutor is a matter for agreement between the ruling and opposition parties."

A Presidential Office official responded this way during a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon when asked by reporters, "The Democratic Party has demanded that the acceptance of the special prosecutor be clarified before the policy speech on the 25th. What is the Presidential Office's position?"

The official added, "The policy speech is an occasion to report the next year's budget to the public and explain the government's policy direction. According to Article 84 of the National Assembly Act, the plenary session 'listens to the government's policy speech' regarding the budget bill," and requested, "We ask both ruling and opposition parties to discuss this carefully."

Earlier, Cho Jung-sik, Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, demanded at a National Assembly press conference in the morning that "President Yoon should clearly respond before the National Assembly policy speech on the 25th" concerning the 'Daejang-dong Special Prosecutor.'

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, also held a press conference on the same day, defining the prosecution's investigation into the 'Wirye and Daejang-dong new town-related suspicions' as "disregard for the National Assembly and oppression of the opposition," demanding an apology from President Yoon, and stating that if this is not accepted, the President's policy speech cannot be tolerated.

Regarding Park's remarks, the official refrained from direct response, saying, "Regarding various opposition party claims, I understand that the counterpart ruling party will provide sufficient explanations."

He continued, "As I mentioned earlier, I hope that the ruling and opposition parties will cooperate smoothly and carefully so that during this difficult time for people's livelihoods, the government and the National Assembly will show a more cautious attitude to prevent the public from facing greater hardship."

When asked whether President Yoon would meet separately with opposition party leaders before the policy speech, the official said, "(Regarding meetings between the President and opposition leaders,) we once again say that we are always open to it."

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