Democratic Party to Counter President Yoon's Policy Speech with 'Silent Protest'... "Will Not Enter Plenary Hall or Private Meetings" (Comprehensive)

Protest at Rodender Hall Before President Yoon's Entrance
After Entrance, Party Meeting Resumes in Budget Committee Conference Room

On the 25th, as President Yoon Seok-yeol entered the National Assembly main building to deliver the budget speech for the next year, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and lawmakers were holding a picket protest. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok and Park Joon-yi] The Democratic Party of Korea decided on the 25th to respond to President Yoon Seok-yeol's policy speech with a 'silent protest.'

Oh Young-hwan, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, met with reporters during a party meeting at the National Assembly and stated, "All Democratic Party members will not enter the plenary hall. Until President Yoon arrives, we will continue a protest at the stairs in front of the rotunda hall in the National Assembly, and when President Yoon arrives and enters the National Assembly, we plan to respond with a solemn and restrained silent protest." He added, "Once we enter the plenary hall for the policy speech, we will continue the protest through a closed party meeting in the Budget and Accounts Committee meeting room, and after President Yoon leaves the National Assembly, we will resume the concluding protest at the rotunda hall stairs."

The Democratic Party leadership decided not to attend the pre-discussion before the policy speech. Oh said, "Both Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, and Park Hong-geun, the floor leader, will not attend the pre-discussion meeting."

Floor leader Park stated in a public speech at the party meeting, "The Democratic Party completely rejects President Yoon's policy speech at the National Assembly today."

He explained, "The Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the People Power Party, held protest placards when President Moon Jae-in, who had no transition committee, first visited for a policy speech in June 2016. During the 2018 budget policy speech, they all wore black mourning ribbons and disrupted the speech with loud voices and three large banners." He then said, "Compared to the People Power Party's direct disruption of the president's speech inside the plenary hall at that time, we believe expressing protest in a more solemn yet restrained manner is better."

Park added, "The president referred to the National Assembly members as 'those XX' in a diplomatic setting, and the presidential office's chief of public relations admitted that this was directed at our opposition party." He criticized, "As a member of the opposition party who was disparaged with the slur 'XX,' I at least expected the president to conclude the ongoing verbal conflicts with an apology to the people and the National Assembly before coming to deliver the policy speech. However, the president responded yesterday that he had never heard of such a condition in the history of the constitution."

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