Kim Eo-jun Says "Leadership Vacuum During Lee's Trip"... Prime Minister's Office Responds "Thorough Response to Middle East Situation"

Kim Eo-jun Points to Leadership Vacuum During President Lee's Overseas Trip
"Absence of a Leader Heightens Anxiety," "No Emergency Meetings Held"
Kim: "Tension Was High While Monitoring the Middle East Situation"

When pro-government broadcaster Kim Eo-jun pointed out that "there was a leadership vacuum during President Lee Jaemyung's overseas trip," Prime Minister Kim Minseok stepped in to refute this claim.

Kim Minseok, Prime Minister, appeared on the YouTube broadcast "Kim Eo-jun's Humility Is Difficult News Factory" last January. YouTube

On the March 5 episode of the YouTube broadcast "Kim Eo-jun's Humility Is Hard News Factory," Kim Eo-jun said, "The president is currently on an overseas trip. In such a situation, there is not even a Cabinet meeting to respond swiftly." He continued, "The absence of a leader must have heightened the sense of anxiety. It's like children without a father, so to speak, like an empty house ripe for the picking," and added, "There are no emergency meetings. No one is saying what should be done, and there was no news all day, which made me anxious."

This can be interpreted as suggesting that Prime Minister Kim, who is second-in-command in the government, failed to effectively lead the government's response during the president's absence. In fact, some supporters left comments on the video expressing their anxiety over the Middle East situation that arose during President Lee's overseas trip.

In response, Prime Minister Kim wrote on his social media, "The tension of monitoring the Middle East situation while the president was away was considerable," and added, "After concluding the Cabinet meeting presided over by the president, I was on a train heading to Saemangeum and could not put down the book I had picked up, so I read it in one go."

The Prime Minister's Office also released a press statement, saying, "The above remarks are clearly not true," and explained, "During the president's trip abroad, the government held meetings of relevant ministers every afternoon to review the situation in the Middle East immediately after it broke out. In these meetings, we checked the all-out responses of all related ministries—including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries—to protect overseas Koreans, maintain security readiness, minimize economic impact, and prevent public anxiety and unrest. After each meeting, we also provided public briefings."

The statement continued, "On March 3, we held a Cabinet meeting to focus on reviewing and discussing the current response status and plans regarding the Middle East situation. In addition, we held a conference of heads of overseas diplomatic missions on the same day, mobilizing the full capabilities of the government for a thorough response to the Middle East situation," thereby refuting Kim Eo-jun's claims. The statement added, "We urge the media to report based on facts and the national interest, as inaccurate reporting on government activities can cause confusion and misunderstandings among the public."

The two previously clashed over a poll regarding the Seoul mayoral election. In a poll on support for Seoul mayoral candidates conducted by a polling firm Kim Eo-jun established earlier this year, Prime Minister Kim was included as a candidate. However, Prime Minister Kim repeatedly requested to be excluded. Kim Eo-jun refused, saying, "I'll handle it as I see fit," leading some to view the situation as a conflict between the two.

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