The “First Policy Debate of 2025” was held, and People Power Party member Park Soo-young participated in the debate organized by the Central Election Broadcasting Debate Commission on the 18th. He argued that “the Presidential Office lied to the public to boost approval ratings” concerning the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations.
Attending the debate in the capacity of Senior Vice Chairman of the Party’s Policy Committee, Park criticized the recent Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations as a “diplomatic disaster.” He pointed out, “Presidential Office spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung claimed immediately after the negotiations that the meeting was so successful that no agreement document was needed. However, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun later backtracked during a parliamentary inquiry, saying that documenting it could have negatively affected the economy.”
Park further criticized that “President Lee Jae-myung failed to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at key international summits such as the G7 and NATO meetings, leading to a rushed agreement on the last day of negotiations where we had to agree to a U.S. investment demand of $350 billion, 84% of our foreign reserves ($416 billion).”
He also launched a strong critique against the cabinet appointments of the Lee Jae-myung administration, describing it as a “disastrous appointment of a ‘criminal record government’ with a total of 22 criminal records.” Park emphasized, “There are four cabinet members, including the President, with past DUI offenses, and from forming such a ‘criminal record government,’ the government and ruling party should apologize to the public.”
Regarding the government organization law amendment, Park assessed that “the Lee Jae-myung administration shows a strong personal retribution tendency.”
The debate was attended by members from the Democratic Party, the National Innovation Party, the Progressive Party, the Reform New Party, the Basic Income Party, and the Social Democratic Party, who engaged in policy discussions.