President Yoon Suk-yeol invited National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo to presidential residence

President Yoon Suk-yeol invited National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo to the presidential residence in Yongsan last Friday for a private dinner, sources revealed Tuesday.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, and National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo walk out of the National Assembly building in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Oct. 25, 2022. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk-yeol invited National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo to the presidential residence in Yongsan last Friday for a private dinner, sources revealed Tuesday.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo were also present at the dinner. Sources reported that an open and frank conversation took place.

Yoon reportedly asked Speaker Kim to “intervene well in the negotiations between the People Power Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party(DP)” at the National Assembly in regards to expediting next year’s government budget and to foster reaching across party lines.

Yoon also indirectly expressed his regret that the first budget plan was not passed within the legal deadline of Dec. 2.

At the dinner meeting, opinions were reportedly exchanged regarding the amendment to corporate tax laws, and Yoon additionally attempted to formulate a consensus with the Chief Justices Kim and Yoo on a firmer establishment of rule of law.

The dinner meeting was held quietly amid criticism from certain circles that only the key players among officials from Yoon’s administration were invited to the presidential residence. A member of the opposition DP — Speaker Kim Jin-pyo — being invited marked a first. Kim is currently an independent as speaker of the National Assembly, but was a five-term member of the DP until very recently.

Commentators also noted that it was Kim who was invited to represent the opposition and not the current DP party leader Lee Jae-myung.

Among those invited to the presidential residence since Yoon took office, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the first foreign national to step foot into the residence when he visited Korea in November. This was followed by PPP members and most recently Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited the residence as the first foreign head of state to do so.

“President Yoon wants to listen to and communicate with a wide range of opinions from leaders and figures with knowledge and experience regardless of ideology or faction,” said an official from the presidential office Tuesday. “He is also very open to talking to people from the opposition.”

BY HYEON YE-SEUL, LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]