President Lee Jae-myung said on the 12th that those pushing for change must guard against radical agitation that stirs resistance and a counter-rally, ultimately obstructing reform and inviting backlash.
Lee wrote the remarks on X, quoting a post by Park Tae-hoon, head of the Youth Today Institute, who argued that the president's will to reform must be carried through to success. "There is not a single thing wrong in what he says," Lee wrote. Park, a former deputy spokesperson for the Progressive Party, wrote in the post that "what hurts more than the enemy outside are the words that shake us from within," criticizing voices inside the progressive camp that are demanding stronger reform from Lee. He said hardline advocates of prosecution reform have stayed silent on what he called "prosecution file politics," in which they attack Kim Seung-won, the nominee for justice minister.
"I have never for a moment abandoned the goals and values of reform," Lee said. "Reform is harder than revolution. There is no shortage of unfortunate history in which excess and haste, from a failure to temper revolutionary passion and speed, brought about the misfortune of counter-revolution." He added that reform "must be delicate and procedural, built on the widest possible consensus, and must prove itself through effective results while minimizing pain and resistance." Lee also said that when one holds no authority there is no responsibility either, and irresponsible claims do little harm, but that those who hold authority must bear commensurate and unlimited responsibility.
"An election, which decides who will represent everyone, is different from a war, which decides who will take everything," Lee said. "Public office must serve everyone. To appoint people simply because they are close, even when they are corrupt and incompetent, is a shortcut to failure and the attitude of a conqueror rather than a representative."
"If you do nothing, nothing happens," he said, adding that in the process of good change — that is, reform — resistance and pain run high among those stripped of their interests, while the response and sympathy from those who benefit remain small. "Reform inevitably brings backlash, but without reform there is no backlash either," he said. "The biggest obstacle to reform is obstructing reform in the name of reform."
He added that he hoped the country could move forward together toward a nation that is independent, peaceful and safe, and democratic, equitable and inclusive in its growth.
The remarks are seen as addressing mounting criticism within the democratic and progressive camp that reform is retreating, over issues including a proposed revision to the organizational rules of the new prosecution service and the naming of a former prosecutor as the first head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. They are read as an attempt to shore up internal unity by underscoring that his commitment to reform remains firm while cautioning against using reform as a vehicle for radical agitation.
