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The Blue House in central Seoul is seen here on March 16, when a scheduled meeting between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol was called off. (Yonhap News)

A meeting scheduled for Wednesday between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has been postponed.

In a briefing delivered at the People Power Party headquarters in Seoul’s Yeouido neighborhood Wednesday morning, Yoon’s spokesperson Kim Eun-hye said, “The working-level discussions for the meeting scheduled for today between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol have not been concluded, and the decision has been made to reschedule.”

She added that “discussions are scheduled to continue at the working level.”

She also said, “Based on an agreement between the two sides, I am not able to share the reasons for our decision to postpone today’s schedule.”

The Blue House shared a similar message in a written briefing the same day.

“The working-level discussions for the meeting scheduled for today between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol have not been concluded, leading to the decision to reschedule,” it said, adding that “discussions are scheduled to continue at the working level.”

Discord between the incoming and outgoing administrations, stoked by the transfer process, appears to have ultimately led to the cancellation of the planned one-on-one meeting between Moon and Yoon.

The president-elect’s team recently requested that the Blue House consult its members regarding leadership appointments for public institutions and asked that Moon pardon imprisoned former President Lee Myung-bak. Some butting of heads appears to have occurred in the process of these issues being brought to the table for discussion during this meeting between Moon and Yoon, resulting in the meeting being canceled altogether.

A Blue House official commented, “This meeting was originally expected to be a chance for well-wishing and pledges for a smooth transition of power, but now it’s spiraled into something resembling a summit with an official agenda.”

“Going ahead with a meeting without these sorts of agenda items being amply discussed ahead of time can put a strain on things,” the official added.

By Kim Ga-yoon, staff reporter; Lee Wan, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]