[News NIGHT] After President Yoon's interview...Han Dong-hoon, "Practice with speed".

■ Host: Anchor Sung Moon-gyu
■ Starring: Song Young-hoon, spokesman for the People's Power, Sung Chi-hoon, vice chairman of the Democratic 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 a focus night time to point out the news of political interest. Today, we will be joined by Song Young-hoon, spokesman for the People's Power, and Sung Chi-hoon, vice chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee. Hello, both of you. President Yoon's public statement and press conference yesterday are mixed within the ruling party. Let's hear the related remarks first.

[Jeong Seong-guk / National People's Power (MBC Radio 'Kim Jong-bae's Attention'): (The president) said negatively about such expressions, so isn't it hard to see this as an acceptance? In addition, there is a part about the suspicion of Myung Tae-kyun that it would have been better if the president explained clearly about the contents of the recording and the part where his voice was included. ]

[Kwon Young-se / Member of the People's Power (SBS Radio 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show'): It was a very simple, very honest, and very humble press conference in terms of overall tone. (Representative Han Dong-hoon made five demands, but do you think he has fulfilled almost all of them at the presidential press conference? ) There was an explanation for everything in general, and there were measures to do so. So, it's not going to be based on CEO Han Dong-hoon, but I think it's all included. ]

[Anchor]
Your words are very different, right? Kwon Young-se, a senior member of the pro-Yoon-gye faction, praised it as a very good interview with sincerity and humility, but the close-minded lawmaker Jeong Seong-guk, who heard before him, said, "It didn't meet my expectations."

[Song Young Hoon]
President Yoon's public statement and press conference yesterday will not be evaluated by itself, but will also be evaluated by the people in a package of concrete measures for future changes and reforms. Therefore, I think it doesn't mean much to evaluate only the discourse and press conference separately. First of all, the people who saw it will evaluate the discourse and press conference. Also, those who watched the entire video, those who watched it as a highlight, and those who watched it as a text will have different evaluations. But anyway, hasn't the ruling camp, especially the presidential office, entered the beginning of change and reform? If so, in that situation, in the end, evaluation is also closely linked to future practical measures. People who think yesterday's press conference was a sincere apology will find it difficult to maintain such a perspective for a long time if the specific measures are insufficient, and those who think that the answers are insufficient will feel the efforts of sincere change, even if they think that the specific measures were not enough for words, if they are implemented quickly and faithfully. That's how I rate it.

[Anchor]
You said that the future is more important. Anyway, it is true that various opinions are mixed within the party right now, right?

[Song Young Hoon]
In the end, I think evaluation can be naturally concentrated if such things are implemented in a speedy manner to suit public sentiment in the future.

[Anchor]
As you just said, the important thing is follow-up. If you look at it today, the presidential office has launched the second annex. President Yoon has several travel plans this month, and First Lady Kim Gun-hee decided not to accompany him. How did you like it?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
I think it's just a stopgap measure. Han Dong-hoon also demanded that the Democratic Party stop immediately, and that it should not be done in the future. What has just been announced is that the president's office has only announced that it will not accompany this trip. And the installation of the second annex is the same. You don't need to install a second annex to stop the activity. And the second annex was reduced in size. The problem with making these evaluations is that First Lady Kim Gun-hee built her own line with people everywhere in the presidential office, communicated with them privately, gave them orders, and there was no such thing as an explanation or a declaration that she would not do such things in the future, right?

[Anchor]
I changed my phone number, too.

[Sung Chi Hoon]
Even if we change our phone number, don't all the people we've been contacting? It is expected that contact information will be distributed to all important people and those who know it as Kim Gun-hee's line. Therefore, the measures that came out this time will not give any sympathy to the people when evaluated by the Democratic Party. Because to tell you a little more, you apologized at the press conference yesterday, but the apology was not sincere. Because at the end of the press conference, a reporter said, "So how far are you going to go?" Because an apology means you have to admit your mistake to apologize for that, right? But I couldn't answer because I told you how much you acknowledged it as wrong and what you apologized for. You used the expression "anyway", but it became a problem anyway, so I apologize. However, I don't think the public will sympathize with the sincere apology because it is no different from saying that I don't know what you are apologizing for.

[Anchor]
CEO Han Dong-hoon was silent yesterday. However, he emphasized the speedy practice, listing all the issues he asked for on social media today, saying that the president promised the people. Why don't you just leave this alone? Should I say that representative Han Dong-hoon was satisfied with the president's press conference?

[Song Young Hoon]
I don't think I'm in a position to say I'm satisfied with the current situation or not. As I said earlier, public statements and press conferences are not evaluated by themselves, but in the end, they are evaluated as a group depending on how concrete and practical measures follow. Other than CEO Han Dong-hoon being satisfied, I think that all the measures will eventually be linked to determine the position. That's probably what the people will accept. Therefore, there are three main characteristics that CEO Han Dong-hoon is emphasizing in his SNS message today. First of all, I summarized that among the demands I made on behalf of the people as the head of the ruling party, what the president said was consistent with the direction. That's the renewal of personnel, the suspension of Ms. Kim's activities, and the appointment of a special inspector. Then, I summarized how to do those things, saying that there should be concrete and speedy practices that fit the public sentiment, and the third point is what the party and the ruling party should do. That's why the party should follow the public sentiment more than now, communicate and persuade the presidential office more than now, and then all of us should be more humble and humble in front of the people. That's how I emphasized it. Then, if you pay attention to those points, I think you can fully read what direction CEO Han Dong-hoon has now.

[Anchor]
Among them, he said he would speed up the appointment of a special inspector, but yesterday, President Yoon said at a press conference that the National Assembly recommends it, so it sounded like nothing has changed, but does Han believe he accepted it unconditionally? Are you saying there are no conditions?

[Song Young Hoon]
In fact, what the president said is that if the National Assembly recommends it, the president has no choice but to appoint it. If I recommend it, of course I will appoint it. You said it's not right for me to say anything because it's a parliamentary job. Then there are no conditions attached to it. I don't think we should understand what the president says at face value, not put any comment at random. And as far as I know, what I said in the election office in the past was that I would appoint a special inspector as soon as possible, and there were no conditions attached to it. If so, it is natural to think that the ruling party should push for this quickly and support what the president said, but rather, I think it is unclear what other matters are connected to this.

[Anchor] How did you see Vice Chairman
Sung? CEO Han Dong-hoon's response is that practice is important and that it should proceed at a faster pace.

[Sung Chi Hoon]
It's bound to be CEO Han Dong-hoon's wish. If President Yoon Suk Yeol tells you the story of the special inspector first, the special inspector did not say that he would also do it unconditionally, but only said in principle. And after talking about the special inspector later, he added the story of the director of the North Korean Human Rights Foundation. What that means is that the appointment of a special inspector should continue, and Han Dong-hoon insisted on pushing for it separately from the North Korean Human Rights Foundation, but pro-Yoon forces should continue to link it with it. Didn't you oppose it, claiming it was a party line? It seems that he gave the National Assembly credit for adding that, but pro-Yoon forces will eventually block it in the National Assembly. We will probably talk about that through discussions at the General Assembly. And from the Democratic Party's point of view, there is no one to agree to the appointment of a special inspector now. That's why the president just talked in principle because we think the only answer is to go to the special prosecutor's office. And the president even said that there was no reason for me to refuse if the recommendation share of the National Assembly came up like that, but when the Democratic Party recommended Choi Min-hee, a member of the National Assembly's recommendation communication committee, last year, he did not appoint her because she had a problem even though she was not the subject of judgment. That's why, given those past cases, did the president really say that he accepted this unconditionally, we don't see it that way.

[Song Young Hoon]
The special prosecution law will be posted to the plenary session next Thursday, but I personally think that the opposition party is interpreting the special inspection with intention because it is trying to conduct another special investigation under the Special Prosecutor Act.

[Anchor]
Anyway, he said he would do it quickly with a special inspector, so if he wants to talk about this, he will hold a parliamentary meeting within the party. Will it be held next week?

[Song Young Hoon]
There is fluidity in whether to open the gun or not, so I think we need to see a little. Because as I said earlier, there is a plenary session of the National Assembly next Thursday. In addition, since it is said that the Special Prosecutor Kim Act will be posted for the third time, in such cases, there are cases where a general meeting is held before the plenary session of the National Assembly and the party decides to boycott the vote. However, if we open his gun, we have to see whether it will be a gun to respond to the Special Prosecutor Act or to gather party opinions on the special inspector. Furthermore, on the issue of the special inspector, whether the party's general opinion will naturally gather to the extent that it does not even have to go through the general assembly or whether the general assembly of the party should be held. It seems that there are still variable situations for these things.

[Anchor]
Because next week, CEO Lee Jae-myung's first trial ruling will come out, right? So, CEO Han Dong-hoon's position was to do something quickly before that, so that's next week.

[Song Young-hoon]
So, of course, what the ruling party can do should be speedily. Of course, Vice Chairman Sung said, but we need to see how the Democratic Party will come out with a position on the special inspection.E should be done quickly, but there are still many open issues such as whether to go to the general meeting or whether opinions will be naturally gathered from any other direction, or whether to vote at the general meeting. That's what I'm saying.

[Anchor]
I'll have to look at it with everything still open.

[Song Young Hoon]
But at the moment, it seems.

[Anchor]
It's like whether the gun will be held or how it will be held.

[Sung Chi Hoon]
Politics is a living thing.

[Anchor]
I see. The Democratic Party passed the Special Prosecutor's Act by the Judiciary Committee today, right? The opposition party did it alone and warned of an off-the-shelf rally on the weekend, but it seems that they continue to mount an offensive.

[Sung Chi Hoon]
is correct. Out-of-the-box rallies will continue from last week and will probably be held after this week while touring the country. Therefore, it is still difficult for the Democratic Party to predict at some point whether the public's anger will explode like the Park Geun Hye manipulation of state affairs, so we will continue to go out and fight at the same time so that the people can join us whenever they take to the streets. It means that we will also have a floor struggle, but we will also have an extra-parliamentary struggle. So, there may be criticism about why the majority party in the floor keeps taking to the streets, but as we mentioned earlier, there are issues that can be done on the floor, as we proposed the independent counsel law for the third time, but we can't do it if the president continues to veto it, right? However, an absolute majority of the people continue to vote in favor of the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act, and I'm saying that the only way for the Democratic Party to go out to the streets and speak out with the people is if you think about the president who refuses to do it. That's why I'm telling you that the Democratic Party of Korea will continue to work together on the two-track and try to support the independent counsel law of Kim Gun-hee and the voices of the people.

[Anchor]
The goal is to pass the independent counsel law at the plenary session on the 14th of next week, and if the president vetoes it and returns, it will be re-voted, so are you expecting the ruling party's vote to leave then?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
Well, we'll probably deal with the polls a little later today, and we'll have to see how the influence of this press conference has been delivered to the public. I think that will probably sway the members of the people's power as they see such public opinion. However, even though I am looking at the public opinion, the Democratic Party of Korea keeps insisting that there are toxic clauses in the special prosecution law we have issued, and then I will propose the special prosecution law without the toxic clause. People are asking if they are opposed to the toxic clause or are they opposed to the Special Prosecutor's Office Act itself, but they continue to refuse to do so. That's why we're going to move flexibly in light of that situation. First of all, it is an action we can do to pass the independent counsel law proposed this time on the 14th and expect a departure vote after that.

[Song Young Hoon]
Perhaps the large-scale off-the-shelf struggle of the Democratic Party that you can see on the screen... It's a little questionable whether it's a large-scale.I think this Saturday will be the last. Because the essential purpose of that outdoor rally is. It's the creation of public opinion or judicial pressure for representative Lee Jae-myung's bulletproofness. However, the first trial of Lee Jae-myung's election law case will be sentenced next Friday, so if the Democratic Party does not get the results it wants, the power of the off-the-shelf struggle will be rapidly extinguished. And already last Saturday, only about 17,000 police estimated and 15,000 people participated based on city data in Seoul. That's why I think we're holding a rally this Saturday with the National Workers' Congress hosted by the KCTU so that there will be a lot of people with only a little time interval and a little place interval. However, since the people already know the nature of it, the power will be rapidly extinguished after the first trial of the Lee Jae-myung Election Act.

[Sung Chi Hoon]
I think we should talk about the part called BTS. I think that's an insult to the judiciary of the Republic of Korea. How do you think of the judiciary in itself when you come out to the streets and think that the judiciary will change its previous ruling just because the people speak out? What the people who are taking to the streets are saying is that they are asking the president's office to pass the Special Prosecutor's Act on First Lady Kim Gun-hee to the ruling party. That's why I think it's an insulting statement to the court to say that it's pressure to change the judiciary's ruling.

[Song Young Hoon]
I think I need to tell you a little bit about this. I believe in the judiciary and judges of the Republic of Korea. So I'm very independent and I'm confident that I'm going to rule without being swayed. But the Democratic Party's intentions are very bad right now. Why is the Democratic Innovation Conference foreshadowing a public rally in front of the Central District Court even on the day of Lee Jae-myung's first trial of the election law? If you really don't intend to pressure the judiciary, you shouldn't do that. Chairman Lee Jae-myung should order not to hold such a rally at the Democratic Party level even now.

[Anchor]
Let's stop here. In the midst of this, he is a key figure in the suspicion of Yoon Suk Yeol's involvement in the nomination. Myung Tae-kyun returned home after being investigated by the prosecution for about eight hours today. Let's hear what you said in front of the photo line.

[Myeong Tae-kyun: (Did you get help from the president and his wife for the nomination of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun? ) I will sincerely answer all questions during the investigation process. (I heard you prepared a recording today. Did you bring the recording you shared with the president or First Lady Kim Gun-hee today? ) So I'm going to be investigated for that. If I say everything here, there's nothing to be investigated, right? (You don't even admit that you got paid in return for the nomination? ) I haven't received a single won. I'll stop here. This case has two mountains of lies. What happened to the news tomato. Then Kang Hye-kyung's false mountain. I think these mountains will collapse one by one as they are investigated. ]

[Anchor]
You saw two scenes of Myung Taekyun when he entered this morning and when he was investigated. He explained that he had never received a single won when he entered, and he actually denied all his suspicions, saying that the mountain of lies would collapse after the investigation.

[Song Young Hoon]
First of all, the facts themselves should be investigated by the prosecution through a strict investigation. Now that the Central District Prosecutors' Office has dispatched additional prosecutors to reinforce the investigation team, I think it will be sufficient in terms of investigative personnel and capabilities. However, I don't know if Myung Tae-kyun can express it as a mountain of lies like that. I told you once last week at this meeting, and Myung Tae-kyun buried his cell phone under his father's oxygen, but the family has no oxygen because Myung Tae-kyun actually cremated his father. Aren't you talking like this? He is a person who lies to the media about his father's oxygen, but does this person really deserve to be described as a mountain of lies? That is very questionable. So, our media needs to filter out and approach what Myung Tae-kyun said, and politicians need to refrain from making it a fait accompli before the facts are clearly obscured through the investigation. I'm telling you this.

[Anchor] How did Vice Chairman
hear it?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
What Myung Taekyun said. In order to prove that you have never received 1 won in exchange for nomination, you have to submit all your cell phone recordings and cell phones. The only way is to prove it through that. Myung Tae-kyun said that we weren't in the video, but when we went in, he said that. This case is quite simple. I said that if you look at the flow of money, practically everything appears. The flow of money that is being revealed now is that Myung Tae-kyun received half of the salary of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun. And Myeong Tae-kyun received more than 200 million won in exchange for nominations for candidates and candidates in the Yeongnam region. The money was filled with the preservation costs of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun's election expenses. The fact that the money was spent on polls for Yoon Suk Yeol candidates at once reveals that there was no quid pro quo, so I think we need to reveal the identity of the cell phone that we don't know whether Myung Tae-kyun hid it or submitted it. I wonder if the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office is really making real efforts to secure this cell phone. As the spokesperson said earlier, I'd rather get rid of it than burn it.As for why the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office did not immediately make efforts to investigate the case or secure data on it when he/she made remarks that seemed to imply the destruction of such evidence. That's why I would like to add that if you don't submit your cell phone to the end or if the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office doesn't find it, the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office won't be free from criticism.

[Anchor]
So, as Vice Chairman Sung said, if Myung Tae-kyun understands the flow of money, the case will end quickly. Kang Hye-kyung and Kim posted something on social media yesterday. Kim is the registered representative of the Korea Institute for Future Studies. Why did he go into Kim's personal bank account? I think I'm talking about this part because I wrote it like this. This part is likely to be revealed in the prosecution's investigation. But while Myung Tae-kyun denied the allegations today, Myung's lawyer said, "This case is a good story," while denying the allegations of nomination intervention. What kind of flow is that being talked about?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
So, when you're in the presidential position, a lot of people should recommend these people and nominate these people. They recommend them, but they usually get annoyed and hang up on them, but the president is a grateful person who responded to each and every one of them. The case is not an allegation of nomination intervention, but rather a beautiful story. I think Myung Tae-kyun or his lawyers, who said this, came up with a strategy while appearing at the prosecution today. Because Myung Tae-kyun's previous remarks were virtually threatening to the president's office, right? If I reveal all of this, I should resign as president, but I didn't hesitate to say this, but when I suddenly appeared this time, the lawyer said that there was no recording of the president, Kim Gun-hee, and me that you wanted. And all of a sudden, from the way the president's behavior is wrapped up as a story, I think Myung Tae-kyun and his lawyer are sending messages to the president's office and to the president to protect me.

[Anchor]
Why did you change your position so much?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
So, strategically, to see if the president will not protect me until the end, I think I will first send a message and then reveal the evidence I am securing until I decide that the president is not protecting me. To do that, it seems that you still haven't submitted it today as the last card, but I personally think that's how you hold it in your own key.

[Anchor]
In fact, even at yesterday's press conference, it didn't sound like President Yoon had a very bad opinion of Myung Tae-kyun.

[Song Young Hoon]
That's true. Anyway, Myung Tae-kyun continues to reduce his confidence in his words. When I was in attendance today, I said, "Did I reveal something?" By the way, hasn't Myung Tae-kyun selectively disclosed information through SNS or the media to mention his relationship with various politicians? Those things are actually revelations. So, as the confidence value of one's words continues to decline, when a new argument comes out in the future, a question mark is drawn about how authentic and persuasive it will be.

[Anchor]
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea released an additional recording of the phone call that Myung Tae-kyun had with an acquaintance shortly after the presidential election today. I'll listen to what it's about and talk to you.

[Anchor]
I told the lady that she would die if she went to Cheong Wa Dae. But the expression "die" was used as an expletive, so we dealt with it like this. For that reason, I added geographical explanations in the latter part.

[Sung Chi Hoon]
We can't confirm whether that call is true or not. But what we all know now is that President Yoon Suk Yeol finally moved it to the presidential office in Yongsan in order to move it very quickly after he took office, right? There's that fact left. Then I'll find out whether that's true or not on your phone. You have to check it through a phone call with First Lady Kim Gun-hee or a recording. Well, I don't know if you think that's just a phantasmagorical power of Myung Tae-kyun, but there have been a lot of fact-based remarks about what Myung Tae-kyun has said so far, so I disclosed that recording in the Democratic Party of Korea in terms of the fact that Kim Gun-hee and Myung Tae-kyun have been in close contact and have been in a relationship.

[Anchor]
Kang Hye-kyung, did you say it was a spiritual expression?

[Song Young Hoon]
However, because of such fragmented information, there is a feeling that the Myung Tae-kyun case is moving away a little from the essence that really needs to be identified. I think it came out briefly on the screen before, but isn't there a suspicion of manipulating public opinion polls among the major suspicions that Myung Tae-kyun is receiving right now? However, the suspicion of manipulating the US public opinion poll seems to be a reasonable suspicion based on the reaction of Rep. Lee Joon-seok, who can describe Myung Tae-kyun as a politician who knows him very well. Rep. Lee Joon-seok still calls Myung Tae-kyun president on TV, but on the suspicion of manipulating the U.S. public opinion poll, he said on a radio show last time that if we get 60 points when we receive a paper report card, don't we change it to eight letters and take it home? As for that, it is possible to reasonably infer that Lee Joon-seok said that because he knows the possibility that something similar may have happened. Then, I think it should be prioritized to find out whether there were any problems with such polls rather than such feng shui.

[Anchor]
The results of the Gallup poll are out again today. President Yoon's approval rating came out at 17%. It was 19% last week, so it fell by 2 percentage points in a week, but I don't know how you two saw it. Did you expect that?

[Song Young Hoon]
I said something similar last week and last week. In the end, Myung Tae-kyun's voice recordings and phone calls came out last Thursday, so we're doing a Gallup survey on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it's only been reflected for three days. In the end, it was delayed this week and reflected. It appears to have resulted in that. In particular, according to the Gallup poll results this week, the number one factor among the negative evaluation factors is still the Kim Gun-hee issue, and the percentage of those who cited it as a negative evaluation factor rose by 2%. Then I want to express it like this. Public sentiment does not specify the deadline, but if the deadline is exceeded, interest is always added to the price that exceeds the public sentiment deadline, and the interest is added as compound interest. It swells like a snowball. That's the situation right now. That's why specific measures that fit the public sentiment must be taken in a speedy manner. The suspension of Kim Gun-hee's activities is not a time-limited suspension or a limited suspension, but a drastic measure that makes people feel that something is really about to change. I really want to say that.

[Anchor]
There are many such analyses that the wavelength of last week's recording was reflected this week, and Gallup's press conference today is not all reflected. You said it would be reflected in the future, but what do you expect next week?

[Sung Chi Hoon]
I think it's going to fall further. The Gallup Survey will be measured for three days, Tuesday and Wednesday, and it usually does a survey on Tuesday and Wednesday about the generation and gender of the unmeasured. That's why it can't be seen as public opinion that contains only the contents of the press conference. If we think again about why the press conference was held, wasn't it held by adjusting the date due to suspicions related to Kim Gun-hee? By the way, have the allegations related to First Lady Kim Gun-hee been resolved after the discourse and press conference? Is it resolved? I don't think the public will think so. I also kept talking about last week and last week, even the approval rating that is now in the late 10% range is probably conditional approval rating. I personally predict that the press conference will probably fall further next week because it conveyed to the supporters that the president has no will to solve the problem, because it was the last bastion of conservative supporters to wait a little longer.

[Anchor]
How do you see it, spokesperson, and what will happen next week?

[Song Young Hoon]
It's hard to predict in the current situation. So in the end, it's very important how specific measures come out from the beginning of the week to the middle of the week. In the end, it's in the same context as I said at the beginning of today. Therefore, public statements and press conferences are not evaluated independently by themselves, but the people will see and judge how they are implemented at once. But next week, we're doing a survey on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Then if you think it's important to prevent something from falling further in the survey, I think the presidential office needs more tangible measures over the weekend and early in the week.

[Anchor]
It is difficult to predict quickly because there are important political events next week, and how the ruling party will hold a general meeting, and how the special prosecutor will be handled at the plenary session, and these things will affect next week's investigation. Let's stop listening to what you said today. 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.