- South Korea’s opposition leader has taken advantage of his party’s recent election victory to pressure President Yoon Suk Yeol to accept a special investigation into allegations involving top officials and his wife.
- Yoon initiated the meeting amid growing pressure to cooperate with the Democratic Party following his victory in the parliamentary elections.
- Lee Jae-myung voiced the importance of respecting the National Assembly and viewing the opposition as a government partner.
Encouraged by his party’s recent election victory, South Korean The opposition leader pressured President Yoon Suk Yeol to accept a special investigation into allegations involving top officials and his wife as they met on Monday for talks on bipartisan cooperation.
It was their first meeting since Yoon takes office in 2022 after defeating Lee Jae-myung in the country’s closest presidential election race. During their 2022 campaigns, Yun, Lee and their supporters demonized each other and filed dozens of lawsuits against each other.
Yoon proposed the meeting as he faces growing calls to cooperate with Lee’s Democratic Party, whose victory in the April 10 parliamentary election would give him power until Yoon’s single five-year term ends in 2027. Has allowed to increase its control over the single-chamber National Assembly.
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In his lengthy opening remarks, Lee said the election results meant “the people’s strong demand to correct wrong government administration,” address economic problems and restore democratic rules.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, during a meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, April 29, 2024. (Hong Hae-in/Yonhap via AP)
Lee urged Yoon to accept independent investigations into the deaths of 159 people in the 2022 Halloween crush in Seoul and the death of a marine by drowning during a search and rescue operation for flood victims in 2023. Lee’s party has accused Yun of ignoring public demands and holding top officials and military commanders responsible for the deadly incidents.
Lee also asked Yun to resolve “various doubts involving his family”, which “constitute a huge burden on government operations.” This was apparently a reference to First Lady Kim Keon-hee, who is accused of being involved in stock price manipulation and other scandals.
“I would say it would be good for you as president to respect the National Assembly and treat the opposition as partners in government operations,” Lee said.
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While listening to Lee’s statement, Yun nodded several times and said he expected Lee to make such comments, but did not elaborate.
At a briefing after the meeting, senior presidential adviser Lee Do-woon said Yoon told Lee he would not oppose a special law to investigate Halloween deaths, but would focus on some potential legal concerns over an ad hoc investigative committee. Gave. He did not mention Yoon’s responses to other investigative demands.
During the meeting, Lee also asked Yoon to accept his controversial idea of having the government give about $180 to all South Koreans as a way of promoting them. economy, a move that Yun’s party has described as a populist measure. Presidential adviser Lee Do-woon said Yoon said he liked to selectively support people in need.
In a separate briefing, Democratic Party spokesman Park Sung-joon accused Yoon of lacking resolve to revive public livelihoods. Park quoted Lee as saying he was disappointed with the outcome of the meeting, but said the start of direct dialogue with Yun would still be meaningful.
No agreement was reached, but Yoon’s office said the president and Lee agreed to meet frequently without setting a date for their next meeting.
In a positive news for bipartisan cooperation, Lee told Yun that his party would support the government’s major move to increase medical school student intake, which caused thousands of young doctors to walk out of the job in February. The government has recently suggested it is prepared to reduce its target medical school enrollment from the previously proposed 2,000 to 1,000 per year, but doctors say they cannot accept any increase in students.
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Yoon has said that South Korea needs to produce more doctors because it has one of the fastest aging populations in the world and its doctor-to-patient ratio is the lowest among advanced economies. Doctors say schools cannot deal with too much increase in the number of students, but critics say they are simply worried that the supply of more doctors will eventually result in lower incomes.
The parliamentary election was seen as a litmus test for Yun, who has struggled with low approval ratings and an opposition-controlled parliament that has limited his policy agenda since his inauguration. Critics say the election defeat was largely due to the government’s failure to suppress rising prices and other economic problems, and Yun’s personal management and leadership styles.
Despite election defeat, Yoon remains prominent foreign policy The agendas will likely remain unchanged because they mostly do not require parliamentary support. Yoon has worked hard to promote trilateral cooperation with the United States and Japan to deal with North Korea’s growing nuclear threats and other challenges.
