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President Yoon Suk-yeol (left) and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung. (presidential office pool photo; pool photo)

Lee Jae-myung, the head of the Democratic Party, reiterated his proposal for a one-on-one meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol about the public livelihood over the extended Chuseok holiday, but the presidential office refused to respond, maintaining its stance that such a meeting would be impossible.

A Korean court recently rejected prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant against Lee, giving the opposition party leader a chance to turn the tables in the political situation. But since the court is unlikely to reach a decision in Lee’s trial before the parliamentary election in April 2024, many think a meeting between Lee and Yoon is virtually impossible at this point.

When asked Tuesday about Lee’s proposal for a one-on-one meeting with Yoon, a senior official in the presidential office declined to comment.

Lee proposed the meeting in a post on Facebook on Friday.

“As the leader of the opposition party, I would like to have a no-strings-attached meeting with the president to candidly discuss the public livelihood and the governance of our country and to quickly take action where possible. Let’s set aside our political bickering and focus on resolving livelihood issues at least until the regular session of the National Assembly in December,” he wrote.

The presidential office has rejected Lee’s offer for a one-on-one meeting with the president, an offer that has been open since 2022, on the grounds that opposition party leaders have only met with presidents who were the official leaders of the ruling party during their term.

But the dominant view inside the presidential office is that the president shouldn’t stoop to meeting with a man like Lee who faces criminal charges. During Lee’s 24-day hunger strike, Yoon neither met with the opposition party leader nor made any mention of his hunger strike.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) has tailored its position to that of the presidential office.

PPP leader Kim Gi-hyeon told reporters Tuesday that Lee was “barking up the wrong tree” and criticized Lee for not talking about livelihood issues in the National Assembly. A better idea, Kim said, would be for Lee to meet with him as heads of the two largest parties.

One of Lee’s close aides called the Democratic leader’s proposition “something he deemed necessary based on considerations of public sentiment, rather than a proposal made with the expectation that President Yoon would say yes.”

The proposal also appears designed as an ultimatum aimed at rallying strength for the Democrats’ campaign against the ruling camp in the final regular session of the 21st National Assembly. There’s a strong likelihood that the Democratic Party, which has already demanded an apology from Yoon and the dismissal of Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon over prosecutors’ probes into Lee, will ratchet up the tenor of their counteroffensive in the final months of 2023.

“When we meet with local constituents, we’re hearing not just our core base, but also moderate voters complain that the president is focused on stamping out political opponents while Koreans are struggling to make ends meet,” commented one Democratic lawmaker who is close with Lee.

“We’re creating a space for the ruling camp to rework the basis of their governing approach, but I question whether they are thinking about people’s livelihoods at all,” they added.

No talks have been held between Yoon and Lee since the latter was elected Democratic Party leader last August. With little chance that any court rulings in Lee’s case will be issued any time soon, it appears likely that the two will not meet before next year’s general election.

By Um Ji-won, staff reporter; Kim Mi-na, staff reporter; Sun Dam-eun, staff reporter

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