Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, spoke on the 19th at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. During the Lunar New Year holiday, Jang engaged in a social media exchange with President Lee Jae-myung about real estate. Reflecting on this, Jang said, “I almost couldn’t perform the ancestral rites this New Year and nearly worked myself to death answering the questions President Lee posed on social media.”
During the party’s Supreme Council meeting, Jang commented, “These days, the President’s social media is filled with real estate discussions, but it should also address foreign exchange rates, inflation, and job opportunities.” The exchange began when President Lee emphasized the need for stricter regulations on multiple property owners, prompting Jang to criticize him on Facebook. After President Lee labeled him as a ‘multiple property owner’ and criticized him, Jang responded by posting a photo of his elderly mother’s countryside house, saying, “My mother is worried because of the President’s post on X,” adding, “The unfilial child cries.” This verbal battle continued through the previous day.
Jang argued that “the issue that the President should prioritize is customs tariffs,” questioning why the South Korean President appears “diminutive” in front of US President Donald Trump. He sarcastically suggested, “If meeting with the opposition leader is difficult, and he resorts to scolding on social media, it would be great if he could negotiate tariffs well with President Trump, even if only through social media.”
Song Eon-seok, the floor leader of the same party, also criticized, “The President’s social media comments throughout the Lunar New Year holiday are disrupting the real estate market. President Lee warns that owning multiple properties will not be advantageous, then distances himself from the controversy by claiming he never forced anyone to sell. How is this different from denying a firing by removing desks and invalidating entry passes?” He continued, “President Lee characterizes multiple property owners as ‘devils’ and blames them for rising house prices, yet now claims that the real social evil is not the property owners but the politicians.” He urged the President to abandon divisive tactics of categorizing moral and immoral, good and bad property owners, and to focus on real estate policies.
The Democratic Party plans to hold a plenary session in the National Assembly on the 24th to pass judicial reform bills, including the law on distortion of truth. In response, Floor Leader Song said, “How can such laws be considered people’s livelihood reform bills?” He suggested, “A more appropriate term might be a judicial usurpation law or a bill aimed at saving ‘Private Lee Jae-myung,'” adding, “I wonder if this makes the President ‘O Dae-su,’ who just barely manages things in the short term. Curbing unilateral enforcement of bad laws is the shortest way to becoming everyone’s president.”