Ruling and Opposition Parties at Foreign Affairs Committee Focus on 'President's Social Media' Dispute, Middle East Issues Take Back Seat

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Others Called for Urgent Inquiry Session

On the 15th, the National Assembly held an emergency inquiry session directed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Unification. However, rather than focusing on key issues such as the situation in the Middle East, the early part of the discussion was dominated by controversy over President Lee Jaemyung's social media posts regarding Israel. Instead of a substantive parliamentary debate on issues impacting the overall economy, the National Assembly became a stage for political disputes between the ruling and opposition parties.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun is answering questions from lawmakers at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 15th. Photo by Yonhap News

The Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly convened a plenary session that morning, summoning Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun and Minister of Unification Chung Dongyoung for an emergency inquiry. The session addressed prospects for the Middle East crisis and issues surrounding energy supply. In response to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Sangwook about ongoing contacts with oil-producing countries in the Middle East to secure crude oil, Minister Cho stated, “I believe this Middle East crisis should serve as an opportunity for a fundamental transformation of our national economy. We are preparing not only to establish a logistics hub, but also to diversify our import sources.”

Questions were also raised regarding the second ceasefire negotiations between the United States and Iran. Minister Cho responded to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Hoeduk by saying, “We have received reports from our overseas missions that the second round of negotiations will be held soon, but at this point, it is difficult to predict whether the negotiations will be successful.”

The ruling and opposition parties exchanged heated arguments related to the President’s social media message. Bae Hyunjin, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, told Minister Cho, “President Lee made a major mistake on social media, and a bizarre situation unfolded in which the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the President exchanged harsh words. Isn’t this extremely rude?” This comment was followed by shouting between the two parties. Lawmaker Bae added, “To prevent a recurrence of such incidents, the Minister of Foreign Affairs should offer candid advice to the President.” Minister Cho countered, “I will not accept your advice, as we have different perspectives on the matter.”

Minister Cho also stated, “Our head of state emphasized the importance of universal human rights and international humanitarian law, and I explained to the Israeli side that it was only natural for the international community to strive for peace.”

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