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Kim Jong-hyuk, the top member of the People Power Party. (Photo=Yonhap News)
윤석열 President reportedly had a private dinner with some top members and junior lawmakers in the Seoul metropolitan area at the presidential residence yesterday (8th). Kim Jong-hyuk, the top member of the People Power Party, stated, “I did not go (to the dinner)” and said, “I did not receive any contact.”
Kim, known to be close to President Yoon, revealed in an interview with MBC radio ‘Kim Jong-bae’s Focus’ this morning, “Did you not receive an invitation to the president’s dinner?”
When asked who attended the dinner, Kim responded, “I’m not sure.” He said, “I called Joong Dong-hyuk, a top member, and he said it wasn’t him. I couldn’t reach Jin Jong-oh, but when I called Kim Min-jeon, In Yo-han, and Kim Jae-won, some didn’t answer the phone, and others were already on calls so I couldn’t confirm.” Joong Dong-hyuk and Jin Jong-oh are known to be in the pro-Yoon faction, while Kim Min-jeon, In Yo-han, and Kim Jae-won are classified in the anti-Yoon faction.
Kim also answered a question about whether Han Dong-hoon, the party chairman, attended, saying, “I heard he did not attend.” When asked how to interpret not inviting Chairman Han, he said, “It seems like it has been portrayed as if the leadership called him, but I heard that he continuously met with lawmakers in Yongsan, having meals and conversations in the evenings.” He added, “I think it may be part of that.”
However, Kim remarked, “Whether the private dinner leaked from Yongsan or if someone mentioned it to a reporter by chance, I’m not sure, but it’s quite unusual that the private dinner with the president is reported in the newspaper the very next morning.”
He further stated, “If we interpret it positively, we can believe that the presidential office is making efforts to listen to various opinions, but we can also view it critically, questioning why a private dinner is being held before Chuseok, moving the leadership dinner from before Chuseok to after Chuseok. The truth may lie somewhere in between.”
Earlier, President Yoon had planned to have a dinner meeting with the People Power Party’s leadership on the 30th of last month but postponed it until after Chuseok. The presidential office stated that they had agreed with the party to postpone the dinner after Chuseok to focus on people’s livelihood during the Chuseok holidays, but some speculate that there may have been disagreements between Chairman Han and the presidential office regarding the issue of increasing medical school admissions.
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