[News NIGHT] President Yoon's approval rating is lowest since he took office... Suspicion battle over 'intervention in the nomination'

■ Host: Anchor Sung Moon-gyu
■ Starring: Song Young-hoon, spokesman for the People's Power, Sung Chi-hoon, vice chairman of the Minjoo Party's Policy Committee

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN NewsNIGHT] when quoting.

[Anchor]
It's time for "Focus Night" to point out the news of political interest. Today, Song Young-hoon, spokesman for the People's Power, and Sung Chi-hoon, vice chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, came out. Please come in. President Yoon's approval rating has fallen to around 10%. 19%, it's a Gallup poll. Positive evaluations were surveyed at 19% and negative evaluations at 72%, with positive evaluations down 1 percentage point from a week ago. Negative assessment increased by 2 percentage points. 19%, the lowest since taking office, right?

[Song Young Hoon]
I was right here last week. As I told you when that approval rating came out at 20%, I rounded it up and said 20%. In the meantime, it is urgent to resolve the issue of First Lady Kim Gun-hee. I told you that I can't afford to hesitate more. That's what you said. In a week, no tangible solution has been implemented in the Presidential Office on the issue of First Lady Kim Gun-hee. It seems that the result is now a drop in approval ratings. In addition, among the reasons for the negative evaluation, the number of people who first picked Kim Gun-hee's case increased by 2%. What needs to be noted is that it needs to be compared to the flow of party approval ratings. In the past two weeks, Gallup survey showed that popular power party support has risen by 4%, reaching 32% this week, in two weeks.

[Anchor]
If there is a related graphic, I hope we can look at it together. Go ahead.

[Song Young Hoon]
That's right. However, support for the president's state administration has fallen by 3% in two weeks. It fell from 22% to 19%. Why is it so opposite? The People's Power has been actively expressing its strong commitment to change and reform around the party leader since winning the by-election over the past two weeks. On the contrary, the presidential office does not seem to respond to such demands for change and reform. There is only one solution to this situation because such a thing is now appearing to be the opposite trend. You must actively show a clear solution to the First Lady Kim Gun-hee issue in the Presidential Office. And only then will we be able to provide an opportunity for a rebound when we show an active response to the public demand for change and reform, I'm telling you that we don't have time now.

[Anchor]
The president's office needs an active response. You said you're continuing to hit the lowest level now because you don't have it, but the halfway point of your term has not yet passed. What do you think? Have you ever gone down to 10% in the first half of your term?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
So I looked it up before I came in, and when it was limited to the Gallup survey, there was a time when it fell to the 10% level once in the second quarter of the Roh Tae-woo administration's third year in office. In the second quarter of year three, just before the turning point. So, there was one time, but I recovered right after that. So, before that, President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating is gradually collapsing from 22, 21, so it will be difficult to directly compare it with President Roh Tae-woo's approval rating at that time. As spokesman Song Young-hoon said, haven't we actually been dealing with the president's approval rating for several weeks? At the same time, even if I remain in the early 20% range, I would be time-limited and conditional support. Because the conservative supporters are watching like the last bastion of watching Kim Gun-hee solve the problem, and that's why today it fell 1% from last week, but I don't think this is a big number. We will see what conservative supporters who still think of it as the last bastion do, but I think we're going to watch a little more, but can we stop this as the transcript bursts this time? I think the public opinion that the only change and reform that fits the public's eye level will be the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act. As the transcript broke out, the suspicions related to the alleged intervention in the nomination became more obvious, so given the previous suspicions of Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation and luxury bag acceptance, the public will now just be judged by the court, so I don't know, if they don't accept this, I think they'll get a lower approval rating next week.

[Anchor]
You mentioned the conservative supporters a while ago, but you just saw the graphic. Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, it's a conservative garden. The approval rating of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province was lower than the national average of 18%. Average 19%, how should I read this?

[Song Young Hoon]
The positivity rate in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, which is 18%, was 31% two weeks ago. It went down 13% in two weeks. However, in the same Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the public's approval rating of the powerful party is 53%. It's up 9% from two weeks ago. Therefore, the opposite trend between the approval rating of the political party and the president's support for state affairs is now common in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. In the end, it seems that Daegu and Gyeongbuk are also demanding the will to change and reform. And I think that the low approval rating of 18% is an expression of the lack of confidence, pride, and honesty that conservatives want even in TK, which is the birthplace of conservatives.

[Anchor]
I see. And what Gallup said today was that it was done on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It's Friday, so it's three days until yesterday, but Gallup says that the Democratic Party released the phone recording yesterday and it's less reflected. I released the recording, and the repercussions will be revealed later. It will be next week in the future, so what will happen?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
If that happens, I'll fall even further next week. I don't know if the presidential office immediately responds to this issue and apologizes or preemptively discloses additional data, but if you look at the presidential office's announcement of its position, it is explaining again that is not much different from the previous explanation. The problem is that the presidential office's explanation regarding Myung Tae-kyun continues to be found to be false. The first explanation was that we met twice and we haven't met since then, but now that it turns out that we talked on the phone after the primary, Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok has never talked on the phone since then, but only once. The president is saying that he didn't remember well, but the public has begun to accept that it is hard to believe the presidential office's explanation about Myung Tae-kyun. Therefore, even if an additional explanation comes out next week, I think it will be difficult to rebound next week's approval rating because I don't think the public will accept it and reflect it in the approval rating.

[Anchor]
Today was the last day of this year's parliamentary audit. A parliamentary inspection of the steering committee was held, and the president's approval rating was also mentioned here. Rep. Cheon Ha-ram and Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok had a war of words over this, and we will listen to it.

[Jeong Jin-seok / Presidential Chief of Staff: No, I went to a temple in Gyeongsangnam-do at 4 a.m. with CEO Lee Jun-seok and planted red plum blossoms. ]

[Cheon Ha-ram / New Reform Party Member: Water burns, does that burn? This is why the approval rating is this shape. ]

[Jeong Jin-seok / Presidential Chief of Staff: Think about the approval rating of the New Reform Party. Are you kidding me? )]

[Anchor]
You've all seen the audit of the steering committee today.Ma was very loud, very noisy, and it looked like a market floor, and then both sides exploded right here with Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok. Think of your approval rating for the New Reform Party, how did you hear it?

[Song Young Hoon]
First of all, the answer at the parliamentary audit is to look at the lawmakers in front of you, but isn't it the people who actually listen? If so, I think there may be various opinions on whether Chung Jin-seok's answer method was the best way to win the hearts of the people watching the Q&A of the parliamentary audit. However, there is also an aspect that is understood in the background of Director Jeong Jin-seok's counterattack on Representative Cheon Ha-ram, regardless of the appropriateness of the method. It is also true that more explanations from the Presidential Office are needed regarding the call with Myung Tae-kyun now. And it's also an issue that the people are very concerned about. However, on the other hand, there is a problem with this part as well, whether Rep. Cheon Ha-ram or the New Reform Party deserves to point out and criticize it now. Why did the New Reform Party go all the way to Chilbulsa Temple at 4 a.m. on March 1 in the coldest days of the year, and Myung Tae-kyun, Rep. Lee Joon-seok, Rep. Cheon Ha-ram and others planted the red plum blossoms? In fact, there is no answer yet that the public can understand about this. And no one in our political circle uses any honorifics or titles about Myung Tae-kyun. The evaluation was agreed upon by the political circles, who call him "Myeong Tae-gyun" and evaluate him as a kind of political broker. However, Rep. Lee Joon-seok repeatedly calls him Myung Tae-kyun president on the show. The people all know what it means. Then, in such a situation, does Rep. Cheon Ha-ram or the New Reform Party really deserve to point out and criticize this? However, during today's parliamentary inspection, Rep. Cheon Ha-ram kept asking questions in a loud voice to head Chung Jin-seok, who is 28 years older than him, and then cutting off his answer. As a result, I wonder if Director Jeong Jin-seok responded like that, so I say that the background is understandable.

[Anchor]
Does the New Reform Party deserve to point out? You said that you understand the reaction of Director Jeong Jin-seok.

[Sung Chi Hoon]
Well, I don't think it's very inappropriate to make such an insulting remark to a minor party. Spokesman Song Young-hoon said it was very appropriate earlier, but I'm not talking to the lawmaker sitting there, but to the people who elected the lawmaker. That's why Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-suk actually told the New Reform Party supporters to pay attention to their approval ratings, which is very inappropriate. Personally, it is true that Rep. Lee Joon-seok, Rep. Cheon Ha-ram, and officials of the New Reform Party also need more detailed explanations about the Hong Mae-hwa incident and such. But that doesn't mean that just because the New Reform Party can't explain it properly doesn't solve the suspicions that the people are currently feeling, does it? The people's power should make efforts to resolve their suspicions, bringing in the New Reform Party there and saying that the New Reform Party is not answering properly, in the eyes of the people, both parties will feel that there is a problem. Lastly, Myung Tae-kyun, I'm also Myung Tae-kyun, and everyone says it's Myung Tae-kyun, but we know it. The only person who calls Myung Tae-kyun Dr. Myung is Kim Gun-hee. Therefore, I would like to explain why Mrs. Kim Gun-hee is serving Myung Tae-kyun as a doctor.

[Anchor]
I see. So let's go back to what the Democratic Party revealed yesterday. President Yoon and Myung Tae-kyun's call disclosure has a strong impact, and Myung asked Kim to nominate Kim Young-sun, and Kim talked to President Yoon and intervened in the nomination. I'd like to hear how you saw this.

[Song Young Hoon]
First of all, in the power of the people, the party has not yet officially decided on the recording of that call. We are still checking the facts, and I think we need a comprehensive and accurate confirmation. I think I can at least go through such a process and then decide on my position and tell you. That's because on the 8th of last month. On the 8th of last month, the president announced in the presidential office that he had not exchanged text messages or talked to Myung Tae-kyun since the last presidential election. However, since the memory and other parts have now been confirmed, then comprehensive factual understanding and accurate understanding are necessary. And to add a little bit, the reason why it's hard to tell you at this point is that when we make the weather forecast, we go to the Sky Park near the YTN building in Sangam-dong and look at the sky and there are no clouds, so it won't rain today, right? When satellite and cloud photos come in, we'll have to look at them and read them. I will tell you that we are in the process of collecting such satellite and cloud photos.

[Anchor]
I see. So you're saying that it's not the right time to evaluate something and talk about it just because the Democratic Party revealed it yesterday.

[Song Young Hoon]
Like that,

[Sung Chi Hoon]
However, from the Democratic Party's point of view, there are too many transcripts other than the ones we released two days ago. There is also a phone call between Myung Tae-kyun and former aide Kim Young-sun and former aide Kang Hye-jeong on May 2 before May 9. There, First Lady Kim Gun-hee decided to give a gift. So don't worry, so Mrs. Kim Gun-hee is already making remarks suggesting that she has made some promises about the nomination. Therefore, it is a very serious recognition of the problem of Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok or figures of People's Power who recognize that this much transcript is not a problem. Because the power of the people said that it's a little deja vu. As the first member of the party, the president just expressed his opinion on nominations. When this comment came out, in 2018, President Park Geun Hye was also sentenced to three years in prison and two years in violation of the Public Official Election Act. At that time, the lawyer said, "The lawyer was just talking about the nomination as the No. 1 mobilization of the Saenuri Party." However, in the end, he was convicted of intervening for a clear purpose in relation to the nomination. He was the chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was indicted at the time. That's why I would like to say that President Yoon Suk Yeol can now be seen as Chief Prosecutor Yoon Suk Yeol restraining President Yoon Suk Yeol. That's why even at that time, when President Park Geun Hye's tablet PC came out, floor leader Lee Jung-hyun, who is said to be the political bodyguard chief of the ruling Saenuri Party's President Park Geun Hye, said, "I get help from people around me when I write a speech, what's wrong with this?" I think the reaction also overlaps with the appearance of Kang Myung-gu and pro-Yoon lawmakers who say, "What's wrong with this problem and the transcripts that have been revealed?"

[Song Young Hoon]
Let me tell you one thing, there is someone who mentioned the No. 1 member, but that is not the official position of the party at the moment, and the party is in the process of setting its position.

[Anchor]
We're going to continue talking about this, but I was going to tell you because I wanted to hear a recording. As expected, he was the director of the steering committee. Another battle broke out over the recording of this call. Let's listen to what stories went back and forth.

[Yoon Jong-gun / Democratic Party member: After the primary, we didn't text the president, we didn't talk on the phone, you said. That's a lie, isn't it? ]

[Jeong Jin-seok / Presidential Chief of Staff: The presidential office's notification is that there has been no interaction or contact with Myung Tae-kyun during the presidential election since the primary. ]

[Yoon Jong-gun / Minjoo Party member: So you want to argue that it's not a lie?] ]

[Jeong Jin-seok / Presidential Chief of Staff: I think it's too much to equalize it just because it's a lie. ]

[Jeong Jin-seok / Presidential Chief of Staff: The president's office clearly confirms that there is nothing wrong with the recording, politically, legally, and common sense. ]

[Anchor]
The opposition party went on the offensive, saying the presidential office's explanation that it had distanced itself from Myung was false, but Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok said it was not a lie. I don't know. I don't know.

[Song Young-hoon]
First of all, the notice in the president's office itself said that we didn't talk or text each other. Then, there may be errors in human memory, so perhaps Chung Jin-seok's answer has that meaning now, but it is still difficult to say definitively because a comprehensive and comprehensive understanding of the facts has not been completed. One more thing, I'm telling you because it was reported in a media outlet today, but I understand that the party asked the president's office last month to provide the overall details. However, that part has not been accepted now, so I would like to say that the party has not yet grasped all the overall and complete facts.

[Anchor]
I see. So the party asked me to tell you the picture because we need to know the whole picture to respond, but I haven't heard back yet. Anyway, he continues to emphasize that President Yoon cut off contact in the second half of the primary and the presidential primary in the second half. However, the president cut it off, but Mrs. Kim couldn't. Isn't that a consistent answer from the presidential office now? How should I take this? Is this true?

[Song Young Hoon]
There is nothing that the party is currently accurately grasping about that. As you said, the party needs to know the overall facts in detail, but we will be able to defend what we want to defend and respond differently to what we don't, but we haven't received a proper response, so we're not fast in deciding our position.

[Anchor] How did Vice Chairman
see the response of the Presidential Office or the response?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
First of all, it has already been revealed that Mrs. Kim Gun-hee has contacted you until recently. Hasn't it been confirmed that you have already contacted Myung Tae-kyun during this general election? So, I don't know if you could argue that it was because it was too late, but I wonder if the president hasn't contacted me yet. Of course, I think Mrs. Kim Gun-hee contacted me a lot more. After the official position of Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok in the presidential office earlier today, he said that he definitely hung up after the primary, an interview with Mrs. Myung Tae-kyun came out in a media outlet. Obviously, I remember the president calling every morning during the finals, and Mrs. Myung-Tae-kyun said she heard him because he talked on the phone over speaker phone. So maybe the president's office will deny that until the president's development comes out. When I denied
or the president said he remembers it like that, as I did when the explanation first came out, I thought we were going to change our words later, but we changed our words again. Therefore, there is additional evidence that refutes this explanation immediately, and what position the president will take. Perhaps the president is expected to come out on stage, but the public knows it. I would like to say that the opposition party is thinking more about how to find out because you know that the presidential office's explanations and things like this are not convincing at all.

[Anchor]
You all know Kang Hye-kyung, right? The employee who was an employee of Myung Tae-kyun's company and later was in the office of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun. At today's steering committee, President Yoon drew a line against Myung Tae-kyun after the presidential election. However, Mrs. Kim continued to communicate, and she testified like this. I told you for your information. And one of the issues is President Yoon's status at the time, so the presidential office and the ruling party argue that there is no legal problem because it is the day before his inauguration. Is this an official position?

[Song Young Hoon]
Rather than being in the party's position, there are now some active members of the party who said that as if they were on the screen. However, at this point, when the facts are not completely understood, is it the time to answer with the legal principles first? So, I think there may be people who think that judging the matter legally seems like a horse-drawn carriage in the current situation. However, on a general level, it is correct that the president acquires the status of a public official from 0 o'clock in his term of office. But aren't politicians fundamentally winning the hearts of the people? Then there are times when jurisprudence should appear, but there are times when other things have to come first. So I have a personal opinion that at this point, it is necessary to consider internally whether it is such a timing for the people's power to put legal answers at the forefront.

[Anchor]
However, some lawmakers, especially pro-Yoon-gye lawmakers, say that there is no legal problem, but Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok replied today that there is no political, legal or common sense problem in fostering the president.

[Sung Chi Hoon]
I said earlier that I'll confirm that. Why would the president's office do that? Shouldn't the judiciary do that? I think that's a very problematic statement because the chief of staff of the president's office comes out and makes a statement that the president's office clearly confirms that there is no legal problem when there are differences in judgment on that. Because not only opposition parties are now arguing, but numerous scholars are now expressing their opinions on how to view this on May 9 and May 10. Some jurists spoke on the phone on May 9 and the nomination process was completed on May 10, effectively connecting this to May 10. Therefore, some say that May 10th is after taking office, so it can be seen as an intervention in nomination as a public official after taking office. That's why I think the Democratic Party of Korea clearly has a point to consider, and the Democratic Party does not just think that it intervened in the nomination, but that it traded the nomination. In other words, the fact that Myung Tae-kyun is a public official or not is very important because he thinks that he/she has been nominated for money transactions and these things in relation to former lawmaker Kim Young-sun, and that he/she has been polled by President Yoon Suk Yeol. If we find out whether or not we had a nomination deal, we will really be just the tip of the iceberg.

[Anchor]
So, CEO Han Dong-hoon has not yet officially expressed his position on this issue yesterday and today, and the reason is that he has not grasped the big picture and the overall context at all. I think you can understand it like that.

[Song Young Hoon]
That's right.

[Anchor]
I think it's going to work, but the party keeps saying bitter things, but in the case of Rep. Kim Jae-seop, he said he was ashamed and miserable when he saw the explanation from the presidential office. Daegu Mayor Hong Joon Pyo, especially Daegu Mayor Hong Joon Pyo, has been speaking mainly these days by standing in the presidential office or the president's position. However, today, he mentioned the impeachment of former President Park Geun Hye on social media and said that a total reform should be made.

[Song Young Hoon]
It's natural to speak like a Hong Joon Pyo market. Because if the house is on fire, the people who were sleeping in the lower neck in the main room have to get up and put out the fire together. If the house is on fire, there are no upper and lower necks. In that sense, I can say that such a reaction from the Hong Joon Pyo market is natural and common sense. To add to this, there have been people who have been relatively passive about change and reform in their passports. And the President's Office has not yet actively responded to the changes and renovations.Ma, because of the fear of impeachment of the entire ruling party, there is an atmosphere that unconditionally emphasizes unity rather than change and reform. In ancient times
, when the army goes to war, there are cases where they use this kind of scheme. They keep spreading rumors that the opposing forces will be conducting a night attack. Then the army will not sleep at night and keep preparing. If you spread such false rumors for days and days and days, the army will lose sleep for decades and later fall apart even if you just get stuck in the day. What that's like now is that when we can't make changes and renovations due to the fear of impeachment in our politics and emphasize unconditional unity too much, we can lose the election as we move away from the hearts of the people and from the perspective of the people. In fact, that's what the most fundamental concern about the passport right now is. So, if even the mayor of Hong Joon Pyo is talking about a full-scale reform right now, I think this is really something to keep in mind.

[Anchor]
I see. So let's take a look at the official reaction of the Democratic Party. He is urging the president to explain himself while claiming that it is an illegal intervention in nominations. Let's hear Park Chan-dae's remarks.

[Park Chan-dae / Minjoo Party floor leader: You can't cover up illegality with lies, you can't hold the government illegally. President Yoon Suk Yeol, the party concerned, should explain himself and take reasonable responsibility for the public development. As Mrs. Kim Gun-hee said, look back on yourself from the perspective you had when you were a prosecutor to see if you were qualified as president. Without proper explanation from the President, the people will know that the President of Yoon Suk Yeol admits all criminal charges. ]

[Anchor]
You have to explain yourself. People say there is no legal problem in the power of the people, but the Democratic Party of Korea emphasizes that it continues to make this legal judgment that it violates the Political Parties Act and the Public Official Election Act.

[Sung Chi Hoon]
However, as spokesman Song Young-hoon said today, it seems that the official position at the party level did not come out like that even in the power of the people. From now on, Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk and the presidential office seem to clearly state that, but I think there will be voices of concern within the People's Power lawmakers that this should be considered more. As the Democratic Party said earlier, violations of the Public Official Election Act and election laws seem obvious, but if there is anything to be legally considered, we will find out through solutions to these things, whether it is a special investigation law to clarify this in relation to the bigger picture and suspicions of nomination deals that Myung Tae-kyun is suspected of, or strengthen individual investigations into. No matter how much the president's office turns a blind eye to this, and even if the president explains it, there are talks about talking to the people this month, and in the process, I don't think he will explain anything more than that level of explanation about Diorback during the last general election. That's why people's public sentiment probably cannot be put to rest in the way the presidential office is now thinking. That's why I say that the Democratic Party is going to make efforts to clarify them at the level of the public.

[Anchor]
That's what I'm saying. What I'm most curious about now is how the Democratic Party and the opposition party will respond to this in the future, as the president's phone recordings have been released. But right now, the Democratic Party of Korea held an emergency joint meeting of lawmakers and regional committee members today. In the morning. What did you talk about here? What are you going to do from now on?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
Representative Lee Jae-myung said, "It's a political emergency," but we don't know when and at what point the public sentiment will suddenly burn up. That's why we've announced that we're going to go out to the square from tomorrow, but when we look back to five years ago, we don't know at what point the people are saying that we shouldn't leave this administration alone as the approval rating of the rest of the 20 percent has collapsed. Since the transcript is released and the fluctuation of public sentiment is unusual, we've made this declaration, so let's declare an emergency and be prepared to respond to any changes from now on.

[Anchor]
Do outdoor gatherings take place every weekend? [Sung Chi Hoon] Starting tomorrow, I'm known to do it every weekend.

[Song Young Hoon]
Can I tell you briefly? First of all, I told you that it's not a matter of law.Ma does not agree with the argument that Park Chan-dae, the floor leader, concludes that something so illegal is happening. Violations of the current party law cannot be established due to the facts claimed by the Democratic Party, and violations of the Public Official Election Act are also very hasty. However, isn't the Democratic Party's clear intention to gather as many people as possible at outdoor rallies and pressure and intimidate the court ahead of Chairman Lee Jae-myung's sentence with one photo and one video? For that build-up, the Democratic Party of Korea is now deciding as if everything that Myung Tae-kyun says is true. Looking at what a broadcaster reported this evening, didn't Myung Tae-kyun recently say that he buried his cell phone under his father's oxygen and that he would burn it all down? However, according to Myung Tae-kyun's family, he has no oxygen because he wore makeup during his father's funeral. But now, all these people's words are becoming a fait accompli in the Democratic Party. So, I would like to say that this is also a point that we should clearly filter out and look at.

[Anchor]
Here, there are reports that Myung Tae-kyun entrusted his cell phone to his brother-in-law, so the prosecution's investigation is still ongoing in the future, so I think we should watch and talk about all the issues together. So far, we have joined Song Young-hoon, spokesman for the People's Power, and Sung Chi-hoon, vice chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee. Thank you both.