Opposition parties unleashed a barrage of criticism over President Lee Jae-myung's press conference. People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk sharply criticized the event, saying it was "a press conference that left nothing but dazzling verbal dexterity" and that "not a single one of President Lee's views has changed."
Jang made the remarks on Facebook on the 18th, taking direct aim at the controversy over a presidential "second term." He said the president "stated that he has no intention whatsoever of serving a second term," and asked, "Is a clear declaration that he 'will not serve a second term' really so difficult?"
On President Lee's request that the ruling party delete the provision on withdrawing indictments from the powers of the so-called "fabricated indictment special counsel," Jang shot back that it amounted to "saying he will go ahead with the so-called 'fabricated indictment special counsel,' just without the 'withdrawal of indictments.'" He added, "He still claimed to be a 'victim of politically motivated investigations,'" and argued, "He said he had not reached a 'final conclusion' on Kim Seung-won, the nominee for justice minister. In the end, it means he cannot let go of the idea of withdrawing indictments."
At the press conference that day, President Lee said, "Among the special counsel's powers now under dispute, delete the clause on transferring or disposing of cases already indicted, and focus solely on establishing the facts," and asked officials to "take steps so that unnecessary controversy over withdrawing indictments does not arise."
Jang also continued his criticism of housing policy. "He claimed that soaring home prices across the entire greater Seoul area amount to a 'flattening of prices,' blamed others for the supply shortage and blamed loans for rising home prices," Jang said. "It was a press conference that changed nothing. I have no idea why he even held it."
On the controversy over single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, in which President Lee said, "Someone must have made the decision," Jang said, "Saying he was briefed but does not know who made the decision means he has no intention whatsoever of taking responsibility for 54 trillion won in losses to the public."
Rep. Lee Sung-kwon, who leads a group of first- and second-term People Power Party lawmakers, described the president's press conference as "nothing more than a courtship of the anti-Lee Jae-myung and pro-Moon Jae-in forces within his own party."
"The president saw the decline in his approval rating as a defection of his support base, including the Democratic Party," Lee said. "The incantation that 'we are all pro-Moon, pro-Roh and pro-Kim Dae-jung, and comrades of Lee Jae-myung' was the passage that best showed how President Lee views the current situation."
He also said, "He stated that he has no intention whatsoever of serving a second term, but he did not choose to withdraw the nomination of Rep. Kim Seung-won — co-chair of the Democratic Party group pushing to withdraw indictments — as justice minister." He went on: "For President Lee, who has lost trust by going back on his word, to ask the public for 'trust' again without any change in how he runs the government is not a request but a 'threat to the nation.'"
He added that although the president "used fine-sounding wrapping such as 'president of everyone' and 'president of unity,' the sight of him still trying to exploit 'insurrection' as a free pass to excuse his own policy failures is nothing more than a 'petty trick' aimed at rallying a so-called 'New Lee Jae-myung' bloc."
