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President Yoon Suk-yeol enters the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. Joint Press Corps

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday dismissed the Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) calls that he accept DPK leader Lee Jae-myung's proposal to introduce a special counsel to investigate allegations related to the Daejang-dong land development project in Seongnam, as well as to commit to ending politically biased investigations.

The DPK also said that Yoon should apologize for his use of a profanity that was caught on a hot mic last month during his trip to New York ― which the presidential office afterwards said referred to Korea's opposition party rather than the U.S. Congress ― as well as for suggesting that the opposition are a "pro-North Korea Jucheist faction" at a luncheon and to reporters last week.

Yoon dismissed the DPK's demands, saying that he has never heard of conditions being attached to a presidential speech in the legislature.

"The Constitution guarantees the president's right to speak in the National Assembly. The National Assembly Act states that the speech should be heard at the plenary session and the rival parties agreed to have the speech this Tuesday," Yoon told reporters on his way to the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. "As far as I remember, in the history of our Constitution, there has been no such thing as additional conditions attached to the giving of a presidential speech."

Yoon was referring to the Article 81 of the Constitution that allows the president to attend and address the National Assembly or express his or her views through written messages. Article 84 of the National Assembly Act also states that the administrative speech dealing with the government's proposed budget "shall be heard at the plenary session."

Yoon's comments came after DPK floor leader Park Hong-keun said Sunday that, "without at least an apology (from the president) to restore trust," the party will boycott his speech.

Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Jae-myung pauses before answering reporters' questions in front of the party's headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul, Monday, when the prosecution raided the headquarters due to an investigation. Yonhap

Later in the day, the DPK decided to boycott President Yoon's National Assembly speech.

"We shared the view that we cannot simply accept as normal President Yoon's speech because of the Yoon government's destructive attitude towards bipartisan cooperation," DPK spokesperson Rep. Oh Yeong-hwan told reporters after the DPK members' meeting held in the National Assembly.

"It is absolutely unacceptable to enter and applaud (the president's speech in the plenary hall) in the middle of these various continued unfair incidents, including regarding the issue of his swear words directed at the opposition, which should never be repeated again in the history of the Constitution."

The DPK, however, has not clarified how they will boycott Yoon's speech.

Rep. Oh said DPK's members will meet again on Tuesday to discuss how they are going to boycott Yoon's National Assembly address, noting that "I won't rule out the possibility that we may meet again tomorrow morning to discuss how we are going to deal with it."