[Issue Plus] President Yoon's speech and conference to the public...Will the national power be restored?

■ Host: Lee Yeo-jin, anchor Jang Won-seok
■ Starring: Kim Jae-won, supreme council member of the People's Power, Park Soo-hyun, member of the Democratic Party of Korea

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

[Anchor]
Political reactions to President Yoon Suk Yeol's statement to the public are mixed like this. Let's take a look at the related information with Kim Jae-won, the supreme council member of the People's Power, Rep. Park Soo-hyun of the Democratic Party Welcome. Before we talk about it in earnest, let's listen to the main contents of President Yoon's public statement again and talk about it. Isn't this the first time you've bowed your head and apologized since taking office? I had it when I was a presidential candidate.

[Kim Jaewon]
That's right. In fact, President Yoon Suk Yeol is about to enter the second half of his administration. Until now, I personally tried my best to lead the four major reforms and the low birth rate issue to achieve national results, but there were also various noises, and in the process, the Democratic Party of Korea emerged as a powerful opposition party in the last general election, which has actually hindered state administration.

In this situation, the public opinion has deteriorated recently as the recording file related to Myung Tae-kyun has been released, and there has been some public opinion that an apology should be made in some form. So I thought it was a place where I listened to the people's words, apologized in general, and explained the details honestly.

[Anchor]
How do you rate Park?

[Paphyun]
I had high expectations. And I hope that we can make an event that the people can understand today to restore the driving force of state administration and overcome the difficulties of the people's livelihood.Ma generally seems to be very cold in evaluation. In particular, if you look at the comments made by our Democratic Party, they finally abandoned the people and chose only First Lady Kim Gun-hee. It's like this. It was overflowing with fruitless apples, lame excuses, irredeemable arrogance and self-righteousness. That's what I said.

Not only the Democratic Party of Korea, but also several other today's comment titles showed that they bowed their heads but shook their heads at the suspicions. I made the evaluation like this and did a loving husband cosplay. I felt like I was listening to a small talk to the people, not a public talk. These harsh, cold-hearted evaluations are the mainstream. This is the overall evaluation of others, and if I were to evaluate it, I was really disappointed.

To be more honest, what has been raised now is that many allegations of intervention in state affairs by First Lady Kim Gun-hee, and clarifying this was the key today, but I couldn't get close to this issue at all and moved on to it, and the introduction of an independent counsel, which is being raised as a solution to First Lady Kim Gun-hee's problem, is simply called an anti-constitutional political offensive. So I had a feeling that the president does not seem to understand the essence of the public sentiment at all.

[Anchor]
Then, if you give me a general review of what you saw today, how many points can you give me?

[Paphyun]
Isn't it in the 10% range that each poll agency is showing now? So anyway, even though you're having a hard time today, I can't go to the National Assembly because I'm worried that I'll be offended and criticized, but I'll give you 20 points by adding one point that I'm trying to do in front of reporters.

[Anchor]
How many points can I get for Rep. Kim Jae-won?

[Kim Jaewon]
It's hard for me to evaluate by the score. In fact, politics is not standing properly right now because the opposition party comes out like that. Even before the president entered the second half of his administration, he apologized and explained honestly to meet some of the people's demands, and if he talks about 20 points and unconditionally blasts all kinds of bad words and makes such criticism, how can state affairs work properly?

In fact, I think that the situation where the Democratic Party is trying to lead the entire country by dragging out the various despots and state affairs in the National Assembly that the Democratic Party is showing right now is paralyzing the entire country. So if the president apologizes and gives his own explanation, yes, now that I've heard this much, I'll cooperate with the government in the future and point out what's wrong. I thought it would come out in such a forward-looking attitude, but I personally feel a little sorry about how this problem will go in the future because it starts to fall with every word on the line.

[Anchor]
However, there seems to be a difference in time not only within the opposition party but also within the power of the people. Friendly Dong-hoon, we just gave you an article, but it didn't meet your expectations, and it seems that you are trying to move on without knowing the seriousness.

[Paphyun]
Didn't CEO Han Dong-hoon ask for 5 things? An apology to the public, a complete reorganization of the staff, a reshuffle for reform, suspension of First Lady Kim Gun-hee's activities, and appointment of a special inspector. I don't think President Yoon Suk Yeol made a public apology today because of CEO Han Dong-hoon's demand for a public apology. However, from the perspective of the opposition party, Han Dong-hoon should demand the introduction of a special prosecutor, not a special inspector, but at least one thing. That's why the president didn't accept the demands of representative Han Dong-hoon, who is not even close to the level of the opposition party, and even the level of the public.

Therefore, even within the ruling party, the approval rating of the people's power is falling without special measures to quickly recover public sentiment, and the future powers who think that the red light has been turned on not only the recovery of the president's driving force or the fate of the president, but also whether the people's power will become the party in power before the next presidential election, have to criticize the president's apology as lacking.

[Anchor]
How many of the five demands that CEO Han Dong-hoon mentioned were made today?

[Kim Jaewon]
However, I don't think it matters how many of CEO Han Dong-hoon's demands should be accepted now. Because there were a lot of suggestions that the president should do something to overcome the crisis. And there were demands from the opposition party, and even the media and senior members of our party had a lot of demands. I think the president should change all of those things in the future or renew the aspect of state affairs by listening to the requirements. But how many did you accept right now, or is it wrong if you don't. I think it's meaningless to discuss it like this.

Of course, the president said, "We are checking the personnel management of personnel reshuffles," and the issue of apology is not a matter of not apologizing if representative Han Dong-hoon asks for it and if representative Han Dong-hoon does not ask for it. I think we should look at it in that regard because there are problems that the president has to do to settle the public sentiment or because he has to meet the needs of the people to a certain extent. The issue of suspension of First Lady Kim Gun-hee's activities has already been disclosed a long time ago, but the constant demand does not necessarily mean that he will not engage in external activities from now on, so I don't think there is a need to mention what kind of demand he has accepted or not.

[Paphyun]
I actually didn't see the press conference today, but I watched a short paragraph on YouTube on my way to the broadcasting station. But you can't be disappointed because it's an open discussion. What was impressive there, however, was not that the opposition party made such a harsh evaluation, but that the reporter who received the nomination asked this question during the press conference. The president apologized, but it is a real apology to apologize specifically and clearly for what he is apologizing for. While talking like this, the public would be puzzled by the fact that the president's answer to the issue of Myung Tae-kyun in the face of the president did not allow him to replace his cell phone, but he did not clarify exactly what he apologized for. The reporter asks a question right in front of him.

That's why the opposition party always points out this rather than saying that this issue is too harsh for the opposition party, and then the opposition party is holding back. However, I think it is necessary to look at how the people think of this problem in a broad and cool manner as the supreme council member of the ruling party.

[Anchor]
Wasn't it foreseen as an unlimited end-of-the-mill conference today? As such, the subject and content continued without restrictions, but there were many questions about Kim Gun-hee. Let's listen to the main content first and talk about it again.

The independent counsel is anti-constitutional. How did you see this?

[Kim Jaewon]
The special prosecutor is not anti-constitutional. The special prosecution law, which is being proposed by the Democratic Party, does not mean that it will appoint a fair special prosecutor who will judge the truth and punish any illegal acts, but that the Democratic Party will appoint and produce the results of the investigation demanded by the Democratic Party and lead President Yoon Suk Yeol to impeachment based on it, which we have already argued many times, and the president has mentioned. And which country in the world does the opposition appoint a special prosecutor to produce the results of the investigation as the opposition wants? And that's nothing else, but I'm doing it now to bring the issue of First Lady Kim Gun-hee, which is judged only as the weakest link, to the center of state affairs.

He pointed out that point, and CEO Han Dong-hoon is also the one who raises that point as the most problematic. But I'm not talking about the special prosecutor itself. Moreover, if the Democratic Party asks the people to conduct an investigation by entrusting them to a fair special prosecutor, they may be able to listen. However, even the Permanent Special Prosecutor Act is now saying that they will appoint special prosecutors by arbitrarily changing the rules of the National Assembly. In order to do that, isn't it the intention now to set up a special prosecutor's office at the Democratic Party's headquarters, do what the Democratic Party wants, and then come to a conclusion? I'm pointing out these things right now.

[Paphyun]
If I explain the matter, first of all, isn't President Yoon Suk Yeol a former special prosecutor? You did that. However, it is contradictory to say that the special prosecutor system is an anti-constitutional political offensive. It sounds good. As Supreme Council member Kim explained, it is not called itself anti-constitutional, but it is anti-constitutional because there is a toxic clause about what the Democratic Party of Korea unilaterally issued, which is good. Then, the Democratic Party of Korea argues that the National Assembly is a place of dialogue, compromise, and democracy with each other, and that an independent counsel is needed.

The Democratic Party will do this. Then, the power of the people is also related to suspicions involving the president and the first lady, so of course, it is right for a special prosecutor led by the Democratic Party to conduct an investigation. How can a special prosecutor chosen by the president investigate his or her suspicions? In the past, all special prosecutors were appointed by the opposition party for that purpose. So, don't criticize the Democratic Party bill as a toxic clause in the power of the people now. Then, what kind of special prosecutor system do the people want to propose, discuss with each other in the National Assembly, and find a point of contact and agree on a special prosecutor bill, even if they are dissatisfied with each other. We have to make such a thing, but the people's power has not given any relief to the special prosecution bill, so we have no choice but to submit it only by the Democratic Party. If it's toxic and anti-constitutional, doesn't the ruling party do its job? That's how I explain it.

[Kim Jaewon]
If you come up with a special prosecutor law equivalent to a ridiculous anti-constitutional political document and you suggest it, what alternative is there other than to oppose it because this is a law that should never be allowed? Then I'll do this bad thing, and the other person will say, "Then let's do something less bad and compromise in the middle of us." Are you saying this? This is a special prosecutor law, but this is a special prosecutor law that can't be admitted, so let's negotiate. What will happen to the negotiation? You shouldn't talk about that.

[Paphyun]
The power of the people means that they oppose the independent counsel.

[Kim Jaewon]
I have no choice but to tell them to stop trying that. And what else is there to talk to those who change the rules of the National Assembly at will to change even the permanent special prosecution law to the special prosecution law they want?

[Paphyun]
So, there is no conversation about the special prosecutor law, so I'm trying to change the permanent special prosecutor law in a way.

[Kim Jaewon]
Isn't the Permanent Special Prosecutor Act at least a special prosecutor law proposed by Representative Park Young-sun, who was a member of the Democratic Party? Then, if they are political groups who say, "Let's go with the permanent special prosecution law," they say, "Do we really need it?" Before the conversation, they changed the rules of the National Assembly at their disposal and made the permanent special prosecution law appoint at the discretion of the Democratic Party. What can I say to these people? Don't try that. This is wrong. That's the normal story. What you guys put out with that is so bad that we'll put out something less bad. So you want to talk to me? Let's stop trying to revise the National Assembly rules first and then talk.

[Paphyun]
So, Supreme Council member, there is a situation logic that about seven people, almost ten minutes, need an independent counsel for Kim Gun-hee on the independent counsel law. Then, each party will have its own opinion on the Special Prosecutor Act. The Democrats want a strong special counsel. And since there is a possibility that the president and the first lady may have been involved, the name is the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act. Then, wouldn't the Democratic Party want a system that allows them to appoint more special prosecutors and the power of the people the other way around? Then, they bring each other a bill they want, sit at the table, and ask each other what to do, so even if they are a little dissatisfied with each other, they yield and launch the special prosecution law. We refuse because the Democratic Party is wrong without discussing opinions at all. And we don't want to give an opinion, we can't do this.

[Kim Jaewon]
It's not that I'm not not giving an opinion, but the Democratic Party's argument is to come into the mud and roll around and come in here to fight. So come out of the mud, what we're doing. I'm just saying you shouldn't be there.

[Anchor]
Let's stop talking about the special prosecution law and I hope we can meet later and continue talking.

[Paphyun]
I know the explanation of the Supreme Council member well.

[Anchor]
You said earlier that you did not apologize to the public because of the request for representative Han Dong-hoon, but today, the president of Yoon Suk Yeol said this. My wife told me to apologize properly. I was told to apologize a lot instead of just talking about the results of the state administration just because it was the halfway point of my term, do you think I followed that advice very well?

[Kim Jaewon]
Not only First Lady Kim Gun-hee but also the media said that, and probably the person who advises our party and the person who suggests it said that a lot, or the presidential staff didn't say that, right? And most of all, President Yoon Suk Yeol must have thought that. But the reason why this story came out was that there was a question about what kind of state affairs First Lady Kim Gun-hee was involved in, and there was also criticism from the opposition party that distorted and attacked in such a malicious way.

So, the president's first lady, who is in the same family, has no choice but to help in the election and to do well in carrying out state affairs, but is this really an intervention in state affairs? That's the story that came out while explaining it like that. It's a very normal story, and furthermore, the first lady, who can be seen objectively from the side, said this because she was afraid that the president himself was too dogmatic, but I don't think she meant it in a different way. However, anyway, I think you did a very objectively good job with the advice.

[Anchor]
Should we talk about Myung Taekyun? You said today that you didn't do anything inappropriate and you had nothing to hide, but do you analyze that the explanation was sufficient?

[Paphyun]
It's completely untrue. According to the president, there are many things that are different from the truth about the suspicion of Myung Tae-kyun. So I said that it's hard for me to say in detail. Then wouldn't it mean that there are things that are different from the truth? So, I think the most worrisome part today is what kind of data you have and how much you have. Also, because we have no idea what the Democratic Party of Korea has in the recording, the president held a press conference today and talked about the limitations of Lee Myung-tae-kyun.

I can't admit anything at all or not. I don't know how much I talked about it, and if you completely deny it and there's a recording behind it, wouldn't it be a big deal? What is clear, however, is that there is a voice recording that seems to be very suspicious of the president's involvement in the nomination. Even in this state, you can hardly deny or say this, and today you should have explained clearly just what the voice recording meant, but you didn't say anything at all.

So today's press conference is actually a press conference that has made the public even more frustrated and angry, rather than resolving any suspicions, but I personally doubt why you did it today.

[Anchor]
What did you think of Representative Kim?

[Kim Jaewon]
However, from the perspective of President Yoon Suk Yeol, conversations or calls with Myung Tae-kyun have been made public so far, but I don't know if President Yoon Suk Yeol will remember that there was such a call at the time. As you said, nomination intervention and nomination intervention continue, but if you look at the situation at the time, Lee Joon-seok, who was the party leader at the time, said that it was smooth to nominate Kim Young-sun and that he went as he pleases, and neither Yoon Sang-hyun, who was the chairman of the nomination committee, nor Han Ki-ho, who was the vice chairman, said they had reported or received instructions from the commission.

It means that the president brought it in this situation and gave my opinion, the content at that time. And as some opposition party continues to raise suspicions, he claims that he helped Kim Young-sun to nominate him because he contributed to the presidential election, but the content is that Kim Young-sun has helped him since the election. Still, what can you say more than that? The explanation was honestly told at the time, so I might have had bad feelings about cutting it coldly, so I should explain it to the effect that I was kind. Then, should I explain it while talking about everything I can't remember?

I don't think so. And I heard the Democratic Party has it. Now, please release everything from tomorrow. Isn't that a good thing to do? However, it has been objectively revealed how much the president is involved in this. So I think the president's explanation regarding Myung Tae-kyun this time was nothing more than or less than the most detailed explanation of all the facts that the president knows.

[Paphyun]
Supreme Council member Kim Jae-won was a prosecutor, and even if he returns to the prosecutor's position, I wonder if he can say so after hearing the voice recording.

[Kim Jaewon]
More than that, then since you're talking about it, let me tell you one more thing. What's wrong with the president-elect just because he delivered his opinion during the nomination process? He's saying it's his fault. Speaking of the prosecutor, I keep talking about it in the legal aspect, but I don't think it's really a criticism to present an opinion in the process beyond the legal aspect. Then, I'm a little embarrassed to talk about how many people are involved in the nomination process, and I'm telling you about how many people are talking about being a prosecutor.

[Paphyun]
Since the presidential chief of staff responded to the National Assembly that there was no legal problem in the presidential office, political, legal, or common sense, he asked whether the issue could be covered by such a legal issue from a lawyer's point of view. But the people think that's not in common sense. The president-elect's status is also funded by the law on the honor of the president-elect, and he exercises the power to carve the cabinet and is protected. From such a national point of view, such a person has raised suspicions that he seems to be intervening in the party's nomination. Then, there is no problem with this issue legally, politically, or in common sense, and the attitude of explaining to the people is wrong, and the president today has not said anything about it, so I'm saying that I'm sorry about that.

[Anchor]
There was this story, too. President Yoon said that this problem occurred because he did not change his cell phone number, how did you see this part?

[Paphyun]
During the press conference, I remember the reporter right in front of the president as the media in Busan, but the reporter asked. The problem is that there are many people who will call the phone that the president used to use, and anyway, the problem is that he couldn't get it out of order. That's why you said you couldn't replace your cell phone, and as a result, you couldn't tie it up and cut it off again. As soon as you became president and elected, you rose to a tremendous position. You should have stopped your personal cell phone right away.

And the president has been in the presidential office like our Supreme Council member Kim Jae-won, but the senior secretary for political affairs uses the phone, but the security chief of the chief secretary, the security chief of the policy chief, and the president are secured enough that the president uses non-telephone phones that cannot be eavesdropped, and all the presidential staff in the presidential office use various apps that can be properly secured, and the fact that the president kept using the cell phone that he used when he was a candidate and as an autographed person, and the fact that few people keep answering the phone is really disturbing right now in Yeouido. So anyway, I couldn't replace my phone because it wasn't that desperate, that's where I got the problem. This in itself is a confession that lacks public mindset.

[Anchor]
I'll have to listen to the counterargument and move on.

[Kim Jaewon]
However, just because you used your cell phone number as it is, it is not a problem that has arisen because the president responded well to the phone calls of the person who helped you when you were elected. And before that, I already kept mentioning the rules of the primary election during the primary process, so I remembered the time when I told him not to call me now, so I answered a little better. With that, I intervened in the nomination process.I started with all kinds of criticism, so I explained about it.

Furthermore, Rep. Park Soo-hyun continued to talk about Myung Tae-kyun as if he had intervened in the nomination, but the president had no choice but to explain on the premise that he had intervened in the nomination despite not actually intervening in the nomination. However, it is true that the public was surprised after the presidential development was revealed. I've already apologized for that. However, he denied everything without apologizing, saying that it is excessive criticism to criticize him.

[Anchor]
The president of Yoon Suk Yeol also said this today. My wife is naive, but many people tend to make things up and demonize them, and the Democratic Party said this. Is it normal for the first lady to send a text message to the president's mobile phone while the president is asleep? That's what I said.

[Paphyun]
So, no matter how careful cell phones are to do such extreme security and various things, there is a possibility that these sensitive parts will go out, and even if the daily life of the president and his wife is not sensitive, it will be a topic of conversation outside. That's why managing this phone like that is a big problem.

I don't want to be harsh about the fact that my wife really helped him like that to help him, but isn't this a problem because she does these things as the head of state and as the head of the administration in a state of lack of public mind?

That's why I'm pointing out that, why are you looking into your husband's phone? I'm not saying anything about that, but I think I'm criticizing it as an extension of the fact that all these problems are coming out in those areas that can't distinguish between public and private.

[Kim Jaewon]
But what the story is actually is that a lot of people sent congratulatory messages during the president-elect's time, so the president-elect can't send them. That's why the first lady answered him. But thank you for answering. There are so many answers like this that they answered until dawn, but I think it's too much because the Democratic Party of Korea is making such malicious comments and gossiping about things if there's nothing to talk about.

And I used to describe it as demonization, but in fact, how many plots and attacks have President Yoon Suk Yeol made against First Lady Kim Gun-hee in the Democratic Party of Korea from his time as a presidential candidate to now? Also, a pastor named Kim Gun-hee has sent text messages and approached her dozens of times, took a hidden camera, delivered her bag, and took a picture of it, and made it public when the public's response was the most sensitive, and attacked her by demanding a special prosecutor from then on.

Not only this, but it is true that Kim Gun-hee has been demonized countless times. The example of politics being brutalized like this and attacking the president, political opponents, or opponents like this is actually to the point where I wonder if any country in the world has such politics. Perhaps the president talked about that position a little bit unfortunate.


Shortly. Kim Jae-won, the supreme council member, is upset and keeps saying it to the effect that the Democratic Party's political offensive has made it very difficult for the people and the president, but the Democratic Party is not that competent. The Democratic Party is on a political offensive... so it's my turn to tell you.

[Kim Jaewon]
The Democratic Party is capable of biting and tearing.

[Paphyun]
So just because the Democratic Party does that, the Democratic Party is not competent enough to lower the president's approval rating to around 10%. And that's the people's judgment. If so, it may sound like the people are deceived by the Democratic Party's political offensive, so if you became a ruling party, you are a member of the Supreme Council, so I keep telling you that it's not because of the Democratic Party, but what we should look back on.

[Anchor]
Now CEO Han Dong-hoon has not yet made an official position on today's conference. But today, I actually admitted my conflict with CEO Han Dong-hoon.

[Kim Jaewon]
Of course, there's conflict. And the reality is that the representative of the ruling party is actually attacking the president produced by the ruling party. And it is true that the people find it most suspicious, and that our party's supporters are worried that the conservatives will be divided and that such a bumpy process that happened eight years ago will happen. But the president acknowledges that, and if he doesn't, he'll accuse the opposition of lying again.

However, even though I acknowledged it, I said that I could overcome it by working together. It seems to me that he said indirectly that it is a problem that can be overcome if we cooperate with each other to recreate the government. In fact, if the president produced by the conservative camp is not successful, no matter how much our party seeks to re-create the government again, no matter how many candidates there are, the door to opportunity will not open for that candidate.

Among the previous presidents produced by the conservative camp, our party is putting the honor of President Syngman Rhee, President Park Chung-hee, and President Kim Young-sam in our conference room. However, he has not been able to honor President Lee Myung Bak or former President Park Geun Hye just before. But in spite of that situation, if we succeeded in changing power by using President Yoon Suk Yeol as a symbolic asset for our conservative camp, and we cannot use President Yoon Suk Yeol as our political asset, what grounds and justification can we say that we will return to power again after that?

So the presidential story of Yoon Suk Yeol can be called an election intervention if we talk about that in order to reinvent the government. So, if we can help each other to properly carry out the state administration and be judged by the people properly, the relationship that is a little distant now can be closer.

[Paphyun]
You mean that you recognized your relationship with CEO Han Dong-hoon, but it seems that you admitted that there is such an expression because you used the expression "Dunggeum." What's unfortunate here is that I hope the president will show great inclusiveness. CEO Han Dong-hoon and the media said this was the fault of the media.

In addition, the opposition party did not attend the opening ceremony and did not come to the speech because of the lack of manners of the opposition party. Don't blame me like that, but as you said in the first apology, everything is my vice. In this case, I think it is right that the president embraces and carries everything.

[Anchor]
Thank you for your hot analysis. Kim Jae-won, the supreme council member of the People's Power, and Park Soo-hyun, a member of the Democratic Party. Thank you.