People Power Party Foreign Affairs Committee Members Request Emergency Session... "Jeong Dongyoung Must Be Dismissed"

On April 22, members of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the People Power Party stated, “President Lee Jaemyung must immediately dismiss Minister Jeong Dongyoung, who has damaged the national interest by causing a diplomatic and security disaster.” They added, “Even now, he must admit his mistakes and make every effort to restore the South Korea-U.S. alliance and normalize diplomatic and security affairs.”

The Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee members from the People Power Party held a press conference that day, saying, “Today, we requested the Democratic Party to hold an emergency session of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee to address current issues, but our request was rejected. Both the government and the ruling party are ignoring the situation and simply wish for it to quietly pass.”

Jeong Dongyoung, Minister of Unification, is attending the full meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee held at the National Assembly on the 15th, responding to questions on current issues. April 15, 2026 Photo by Kim Hyunmin

Previously, on the 6th of last month, Minister Jeong attended a full session of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee at the National Assembly and mentioned North Korea’s Guseong nuclear facility. Recently, as the United States began restricting satellite and signal intelligence information related to North Korea previously provided to South Korea, criticism has emerged that Minister Jeong’s remarks were the cause of this issue.

They stated, “This situation is the result of the Lee Jaemyung administration ignoring numerous warnings raised by the opposition regarding Minister Jeong’s actions, and it is no different from a festering wound that eventually burst due to neglect.” They continued, “Minister Jeong’s statements have clashed with the positions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, and even the National Security Office, causing major confusion within the government and in diplomatic and security affairs.”

Furthermore, regarding the remarks made during the full committee session, which have been identified as the cause of this incident, they said, “While a People Power Party lawmaker was questioning Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun, Minister Jeong interjected, and despite efforts to restrain him, he continued speaking until he made the slip of mentioning the ‘Guseong and Kangsŏn uranium enrichment facilities.’” They argued, “In the end, the standing committee of the National Assembly has become a place where ministers can freely leak diplomatic and security secrets at their own discretion.”

They also reiterated their demand to the Democratic Party to hold an emergency session to address current issues in the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. They emphasized, “What is even more serious is that President Lee Jaemyung is personally defending Minister Jeong’s wrongdoing,” and added, “The Democratic Party must agree to the People Power Party’s proposal to convene an emergency session of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, so that the seriousness of the situation can be reviewed and measures for resolution can be put in place.”

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