Yoon, new PPP head meet for first time at New Year's speech

President Yoon Suk Yeol met with the interim leader of the conservative People Power Party for the first time at the Blue House in Seoul on Wednesday...

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shakes hands with Han Dong-hoon, interim leader of the conservative People Power Party and former justice minister, at the Blue House in Seoul on Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol met with the interim leader of the conservative People Power Party for the first time at the Blue House in Seoul on Wednesday.

Han Dong-hoon, who served as the Yoon government's justice minister until last month, shook hands with the president as they met for the first time since Han assumed his new role as the interim leader of the conservative party, the same party as the president.

Han was among some 200 political, legislative, business and religious leaders of the country — including the National Assembly speaker, chief justice of the Supreme Court and the prime minister — to join Yoon at the Blue House as he delivered his New Year's speech.

Yoon vowed to boost the local economy and improve the people's livelihoods, conveying his gratitude to the people of Korea for weathering many crises last year, both domestic and international.

Han also addressed the audience at the event, echoing Yoon's statements.

“It’s a new year every year, but 2024 is very different from any other year,” Han said. “This is the year of an important election that will have a greater impact on the lives of our fellow citizens than many people think.”

Adding that he and his party would work to “improve the lives of the fellow citizens of the nation,” Han asked for the public's support for the party in the general election scheduled in April.

The liberal Democratic Party holds the majority in the National Assembly, occupying 167 seats of 298 seats, or 56 percent.

The head of the liberal party, Lee Jae-myung, was absent from the meeting, having been hospitalized since Tuesday after a stranger stabbed him during his visit to the site of the new international airport on Gadeok Island in Busan.

Lee suffered a 1-centimeter (0.4-inch) wound to the left side of his neck and underwent a two-hour surgery on his jugular vein. He was recovering at Seoul National University Hospital on Wednesday.

The assailant, a 67-year-old man named Kim, approached Lee for his signature. The on-site footage shows Kim hurling himself toward Lee, swiping at his neck. Lee was next seen on the ground as other members of the party rushed to put pressure on his wound.

Arrested on site, Kim has been undergoing police questioning. He admitted to attacking Lee to kill him.

Yoon addressed the attack during his speech on Wednesday, calling it an act of terror.

“Acts of terrorism, no matter in what form, are enemies of a free and democratic society,” Yoon said in his speech. Yoon, in turn, highlighted three individuals for their heroism throughout 2023.

They included a 17-year-old student named Kuk Ji-sung, who won a presidential award for his science fair project, a device invented to connect the engine pedal of a vehicle with the black box system to decipher the driver’s fault in traffic accidents involving sudden, often unintended, acceleration.

Yoon also praised two other recipients of presidential awards, nurse Lee Won-jung and Army soldier Kang Tae-kwon, who saved lives by giving CPR to accident victims.

The event lasted about 40 minutes. The presidential office said that it minimized celebrations at the annual event in respect of "current economic difficulties.”

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]