President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a New Year's greeting meeting with leaders of Korea's executive, legislative and judicial branches at Yeongbingwan a reception hall at the former presidential office and residence, Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul, Monday. Joint Press Corps

President urges support from businesses to overcome economic headwinds

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Yoon Suk-yeol met the leaders of Korea's executive, legislative and judicial branches on Monday, asking their support for his drive to make reforms in three areas: labor, education and pensions.

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), however, did not attend the New Year's meeting, signaling that Yoon's call for bipartisan efforts to achieve unity could be an empty slogan.

According to the presidential office, Yoon met the leaders at the Yeongbingwan reception hall at Cheong Wa Dae, the former presidential office and residence, in Jongno District, Seoul, and brought together some 200 top officials from political parties and Cabinet ministries.

National Assembly speaker Kim Jin-pyo, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, Constitutional Court of Korea President Yoo Nam-seok, National Election Commission Chairperson Rho Tae-ak were some of the leaders who attended the event.

From the ruling People Power Party (PPP), floor leader Joo Ho-young, Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo, Kweon Seong-dong, Chang Je-won, Song Eon-seog and other politicians also showed up.

From the opposition bloc, minor progressive Justice Party Lee Jeong-mi attended the event, but no ranking officials from the DPK attended the event, such as Chairman Lee or floor leader Park Hong-keun.

Lee chose to visit Busan to meet local party members as well as South Gyeongsang Province to pay a courtesy visit to liberal former President Moon Jae-in.

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Jae-myung, left, speaks with former President Moon Jae-in during Lee's visit to Moon's residence in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, Monday. Joint Press Corps

The presidential office said it had invited the leaders of five parties and the floor leaders of three major parties ― the PPP, DPK and Justice Party. But the DPK members "did not attend," an official at the presidential office said without elaborating on the reason.

On the other hand, the DPK said its members decided to skip the event because of a schedule conflict. Lee had been scheduled to visit Busan and South Gyeongsang Province, they said. The DPK expressed resentment, saying that the invitation process itself had been "inappropriate."

According to the DPK, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety had sent "an email asking DPK Chairman Lee to attend the event" around 2 p.m., Dec. 22, and demanded the party to reply no later than 6 p.m. the same day.

The DPK replied to the ministry that Lee would not attend the event on the morning of Dec. 23, and "a working level official" from the ministry later visited the party to hand over in person a letter of invitation to the party.

"Chairman Lee had no opportunity to speak during the event," Rep. Cheon Jun-ho, Lee's chief of staff, said. "If they had sincerely wanted to invite the main opposition party's leadership, they should have at least tried calling me instead of just sending an email."

His remarks indicated that his party members felt insulted about the manner in which the presidential office had invited the DPK leadership.

In previous administrations, the sitting president would send a senior presidential secretary for political affairs to each party to invite their leaders in person.

The DPK chairman's absence at the New Year's event presided over by Yoon is a snapshot of the frosty state of inter-party relations.

Since taking office in May last year, Yoon has met with PPP heavyweights many times, but has never met the DPK chairman. Meanwhile, the strife between the presidential office and the main opposition party has continually been deepening.

The two sides' conflict is anticipated to come to a peak later this month, as the prosecution is expected to summon the DPK chairman for questioning over bribery suspicions. The DPK has said that the investigation constitutes "political retaliation" by the Yoon administration.

In his speech during the New Year's greeting, Yoon reiterated his will to remove the "evils blocking the country's economic growth" and to "adhere to the law and principles without wavering."

"We must prioritize issues of livelihood while swiftly eradicating the evils blocking the country's economic growth and development, as well as accelerating normalization," Yoon said during the greeting event.

President Yoon Suk-yeol salutes the national flag during his New Year meeting with business leaders at the COEX in Gangnam District, Seoul, Monday. From second from left are Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Korea Federation of SMEs Chairman Kim Ki-mun, Yoon and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. Yonhap

Later in the day, Yoon met the heads of major business conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin at COEX in Seoul, and promised the government's help for companies to overcome economic headwinds expected this year.

"The weakening grip of the World Trade Organization in international society is accelerating the trend of economies forming blocs, and cooperation in security, trade and technology is now treated together as a package," Yoon told the business leaders. "Thus, the government and businesses should become a single entity from now on… I will put the economy at the center of all diplomatic interests and will personally take care of each and every issue related to exports and our companies' overseas market entries."