Yoon Expresses Displeasure Over Conditions for Policy Speech... "Never Heard of This in Constitutional History" (Comprehensive)

-Democratic Party demands apology for 'speech controversy' and stance on Daejang-dong special investigation ahead of National Assembly policy speech
-Yoon states "The President's right to speak at the National Assembly is guaranteed by the Constitution"... effectively chooses a strong approach despite boycott possibility

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] President Yoon Seok-yeol expressed displeasure at the opposition party's conditions for attending the National Assembly's policy speech, one day before the address. Earlier, the Democratic Party of Korea demanded an apology for various 'controversial remarks' that had arisen and a statement on the 'Daejang-dong special prosecutor' as conditions for attending President Yoon's budget policy speech scheduled for the 25th.

However, on the morning of the 24th, while heading to the Yongsan Presidential Office building, President Yoon said regarding the Democratic Party's possible boycott of the policy speech, "I have never heard of attaching conditions to a policy speech in constitutional history." He particularly pointed out, "The president's right to attend and speak at the National Assembly is guaranteed by the Constitution, and when the budget is submitted to the National Assembly, delivering a policy speech is stipulated by the National Assembly Act," adding, "The schedule for the 25th was set by bipartisan agreement, and as far as I remember, I have never heard of additional conditions being attached in constitutional history."

On the surface, this can be read as a refusal to link the Democratic Party's demands with the legally guaranteed policy speech. It implies that the government will not dilute its determination to recover the people's livelihood and economy by attaching conditions to the various national agenda items pursued by the Yoon administration. However, the Democratic Party's boycott of the policy speech means they will not cooperate in passing the budget or bills, which could likely cause setbacks not only to the government reorganization plan?including the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, elevation of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, and establishment of the Overseas Koreans Office?but also to legislation linked to national agenda items.

The day before, the Democratic Party held a press conference at the National Assembly, demanding an apology from President Yoon regarding the Daejang-dong special prosecutor and oppression of the opposition, and asked him to clarify his position before the policy speech. Floor leader Park Hong-geun stated, "In a situation where the National Assembly is ignored and oppression of the opposition continues, we cannot overlook the president delivering the policy speech as if nothing happened," emphasizing, "If President Yoon Seok-yeol does not offer even the minimum apology to restore trust, we will never tolerate his policy speech."

In particular, Floor Leader Park criticized, "When the controversy over the vulgar term ‘iXX’ arose, the presidential office explained it was an insult to the opposition, not the U.S. Congress, and after making remarks about pro-North Korean Joo-sa-pa (communist faction), he deceived the public by saying he knows well whether he is part of Joo-sa-pa or not," adding, "But President Yoon has neither apologized nor expressed regret." He then questioned, "After that, does he intend to call the policy speech a talk about parliamentary democracy, cooperation, and freedom, which are just empty words?" 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."

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