President Yoon: "Constitutional tradition has collapsed... Cooperation and collaboration with the National Assembly are important"

-Half Disappeared 'Divisive Politics' Concerns, Yoon... "Decline in Public Trust in the National Assembly"
- "Complete Budget Review Within Legal Deadline to Enable Budget Execution"... Requests Cooperation from the National Assembly

President Yoon Suk-yeol is arriving at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul, on the morning of the 26th, responding to questions from the press. /

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 26th that "a practice that had been established as a tradition in constitutional history for over 30 years was broken as of yesterday," referring to the opposition party's absence from the National Assembly's policy speech on next year's budget the day before. He indirectly criticized the Democratic Party of Korea and expressed concern that public trust in the National Assembly might decline.

On the morning of the same day, on his way to the Yongsan Presidential Office building, President Yoon responded to reporters' questions about the empty National Assembly plenary session hall and the talk of divisive politics by saying, "I think there will be cases in the future where lawmakers do not attend the president's policy speech depending on the political situation."

In particular, President Yoon said, "Isn't public trust in the National Assembly declining? Good practices should be maintained no matter what difficulties arise." The day before, the Democratic Party boycotted the policy speech in protest against the prosecution's investigation of party leader Lee Jae-myung, and President Yoon delivered the policy speech for about 19 minutes in a National Assembly plenary session hall that was only half full.

Regarding a question about why he did not use the word "cooperation" in the policy speech, President Yoon explained, "I did not use the word 'opposition party,' but I emphasized the need for cooperation and collaboration with the National Assembly." Considering his remarks in the policy speech the day before, where he said, "To overcome the severe economic and security situation, there can be no division between the ruling and opposition parties. Cooperation from the National Assembly is urgent," President Yoon also praised the bipartisan cooperation in the National Assembly last May, saying, "Thanks to the National Assembly's bipartisan cooperation, the supplementary budget was successfully finalized."

President Yoon's emphasis on the National Assembly's cooperation in reviewing the budget bill on this day is in the same context. He urged, "Although it is regrettable that not all lawmakers could attend, I hope for cooperation so that the budget review can be completed within the legal deadline and from next year, support for our vulnerable groups and budgets necessary for national development and prosperity can be executed."

However, when asked about Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's stance on the Daejang-dong special prosecutor investigation, President Yoon refrained from commenting, saying, "Many people have already expressed their positions on that."

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