Yeo: "Lee Jae-myung's Proposal for a Summit Meeting Is Out of the Blue... Start with a Meeting Between Party Leaders"

On the 29th, the People Power Party responded to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, proposing a 'Livelihood Summit' to President Yoon Suk-yeol by calling it "out of the blue" and stated that he should first respond to a ruling and opposition party leaders' meeting.

Senior Spokesperson Kang Min-guk said in a statement, "We actively welcome Leader Lee's proposal to discuss livelihood issues," but added, "The president is a representative of the people, not the ruling party leader, so it is a fundamental principle of parliamentary democracy that livelihood issues to be discussed in the National Assembly should be negotiated between the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties." He emphasized, "The order is to first respond to the People Power Party's proposal for a fierce discussion on livelihood issues between the ruling and opposition party leaders."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Senior Spokesperson Kang urged, "Instead of clinging to a status-cleansing meeting with the president, which is inappropriate in rank and dilutes responsibility as a 'criminal defendant,' show sincerity first by attending the ruling and opposition party leaders' meeting proposed by the People Power Party for the true restoration of livelihood politics."

Secretary-General Lee Cheol-gyu also said on his social media (SNS) account, "'Summit meeting' is a term that suited the president when he was the ruling party leader, and therefore, during the Moon Jae-in administration, there was never a meeting with the leader of the main opposition party."

He continued, "Before accepting the defendant's proposal for a summit meeting to avoid crisis, who is on trial for election law violations and the Daejang-dong corruption allegations and is under investigation for other crimes such as perjury instruction, it is the duty to apologize to the people first for the giant opposition party's obstruction of state affairs, including the shielded hunger strike, the impeachment of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min dismissed by the Constitutional Court, and the forced motion to dismiss the Prime Minister."

Earlier, on Chuseok day, Leader Lee said on Facebook, "I propose a livelihood summit to President Yoon," adding, "At least until the end of the December regular session of the National Assembly, let's stop political strife and focus on solving livelihood issues."

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