Moon, Yoon to hold first meeting

Mar 28, 2022, 09:00 am

		0
President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol/ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Lee Wook-jae

President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will hold their first meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday evening, 19 days after the presidential election. The two sides, who had been at odds over a series of issues including personnel appointments, agreed to meet without any agenda.

Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee and Yoon’s spokesperson Kim Eun-hye made such announcements in separate press briefings on Sunday.

The decision on the meeting was finalized after Moon offered to meet Yoon at the “earliest possible” date, while Yoon expressed his hope to meet without any agenda and engage in “candid” dialogue since it is “of the utmost importance to alleviate the people’s concerns.”

Moon and Yoon will be accompanied by Presidential Chief of Staff Yoo Young-min and Yoon’s top aide, Rep. Chang Je-won. Moon and Yoon were supposed to meet on March 16, but the meeting was postponed due to disagreements over the agenda and nature of the meeting.

The meeting was arranged by senior secretary Lee Cheol-hee and Rep. Chang Je-won. Previously, Lee and Chang had argued over the appointment of Rhee Chang-yong, Director of Asia and Pacific department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as new head of Bank of Korea.

Initially, Cheong Wa Dae had pushed for the meeting considering it as a venue of celebration. On the other hand, Yoon had considered it as a place to seek cooperation from the president in terms of political planning. The two sides showed a difference of opinion over the nature of the meeting.

The two sides blamed each other for the postponement of the meeting. However, when several issues emerged, including North Korea’s launch of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Yoon’s side decided to attend the meeting.

“As soon as Yoon was briefed on the proposal of Lee Cheol-hee, Yoon readily called for a speedy progress on the issue,” spokesperson Kim told reporters. Kim explained that Yoon wanted to hold the meeting to ease the people’s concerns amid the difficulties related to the pandemic and the economic impact caused by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

“I believe they may naturally talk about national issues and challenges when they meet,” Kim added.

#Moon Jae-in #first meeting #Yoon Suk-yeol