함성득(Left), 임혁백(Right)
, ‘The controversy over unofficial influences in the presidential office has resurfaced. This comes after allegations that the unofficial duo of ‘Ham Sung-deuk’ and ‘Im Hyeok-baek’ played a special envoy role in coordinating behind the scenes during the process of arranging the meeting between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, which took place on 29th of last month.’,
, ‘This controversy arose as Ham Sung-deuk, the head of the Graduate School of Politics at Kyonggi University, and Im Hyeok-baek, an emeritus professor at Korea University, revealed their roles in the meeting related to the meeting in an interview with Hankook Ilbo on the 7th. Professor Ham is a neighbor of President Yoon and has a close relationship with President Yoon and his wife. Professor Im was in charge of candidate management for the Democratic Party during the last general election. The two claimed that they acted as intermediaries conveying each other’s positions to President Yoon and President Lee through specific examples.’,
, ‘In particular, the interview contained sensitive contents such as “President Yoon requested a prime ministerial recommendation from President Lee” and “President Yoon conveyed his intention to exclude individuals who could be competitive candidates with President Lee in the next presidential election from presidential appointments.” This has sparked a big controversy in the political circle as it contradicts the official stance of the presidential office. After the meeting, the presidential office briefed that “there was no discussion about prime ministerial appointments”. Even in the preliminary negotiations, the official stance was that “there was no discussion of prime ministerial appointments”. The interview also included the content that President Lee expressed discomfort by stating that Won Hee-ryong, a prominent candidate for the position of Presidential Chief Secretary, was someone who should take responsibility for the special favors related to Yangpyeong Expressway.’,
, ‘The presidential office immediately denied the content. President Yoon also reportedly expressed his discomfort to his aides by saying, “I have never said such things.”‘,
, ‘A senior official at the presidential office explained to reporters, “President Yoon has received proposals from the media, the ruling party, and the opposition party to meet with President Lee for a long time” and “President Yoon decided and directly called President Lee.” They also clarified that “they went through official channels and there were no grandiose special envoys or underground lines.”‘,
, ‘Though the interview by the two professors was claimed as false, skepticism in the political community continued. The concrete nature of the content and the fact that the presidential office is not considering legal action against the two professors contributed to this skepticism. The part where President Yoon stated, “I have not been able to meet President Lee because of the strong opposition from my supporters and aides,” is similar to what lawyer Shin Pyeong, who is close to President Yoon, indirectly conveyed to the media last month.’,
, ‘Following the report, there was a heated response on the bulletin board of the People Power Party. Posts such as ‘This is shocking. (President Yoon) is truly ruining the conservative movement. Resign now’ were posted.’,
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