It has been confirmed that President Yoon Suk-yeol invited and met with Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party (PPP), at the presidential office right after an 81-minute meeting between President Yoon and Han Dong-hoon, the PPP leader.
According to a source from the ruling party, yesterday (21st), Floor Leader Choo attended a dinner that President Yoon had with his aides, including Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok.
Floor Leader Choo mentioned that he wasn’t part of the dinner with President Yoon, but he did receive a call from the presidential office and attended a gathering with multiple people.
[Choo Kyung-ho / People Power Party Floor Leader: “I received a brief call, so I went to a place with several people. I understand that such situations happen regularly.”]
However, he refrained from disclosing what was discussed during his meeting with the President.
[Choo Kyung-ho / People Power Party Floor Leader: “(Are you saying the President contacted you?) I can’t disclose every detail like that. (Did you discuss meeting with the leader at the gathering yesterday?) I ask for your understanding that I cannot speak on that matter right now.”]
The ruling party’s top two figures, Leader Han and Floor Leader Choo, have shown subtle differences in their stance whenever issues related to First Lady Kim Keon-hee and the presidential office arise.
During the anticipated meeting yesterday, Leader Han requested three things regarding the First Lady issue: personnel reshuffling in the presidential office, cessation of external activities, and cooperation in clarifying the controversies.
On the other hand, Floor Leader Choo showed a differing view on the 18th when he commented on the prosecution’s decision not to indict First Lady Kim regarding the stock manipulation allegations of Deutsche Motors. He stated, “I think they tried to announce the investigation results fairly based on evidence and legal principles.”
Following the largely unproductive ‘Yoon-Han meeting’ yesterday, as President Yoon met with Floor Leader Choo, it is assessed that the differences in opinions between pro-Yoon and pro-Han figures could become more pronounced.
(Report by: Jo Yoon-ha, Production: Digital News Editing Department)