A pointless meeting with a president in denial

Little has come out of the tête-à-tête between President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling People Power Party (PPP) head Han Dong-hoon, dashing hopes for a breakthrough on the controversies related to the first lady demoralizing the conservative front.

Little has come out of the tête-à-tête between President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling People Power Party (PPP) head Han Dong-hoon, dashing hopes for a breakthrough to stave off the danger of the controversies related to the first lady demoralizing the conservative front. The two came away only to reaffirm their differences in dealing with the issues related to first lady Kim Keon Hee as the president remains in denial of the wrongdoings his wife is accused of.

If any of the ruling party members support the “unconstitutional” opposition-led motion to launch a special counsel probe into the affairs of the first lady, “That can’t be helped,” Yoon said, adding he has “faith in our party members” to not betray him.

In the second vote for the bills motioning independent probes on Kim and questions related to the death of a Marine earlier this month, at least four votes of approval could be traced to the ruling section. The controversial bills could be rubber-stamped if four more deviate from the ruling front in the next round of voting. Yet the president appears to remain carefree, as he has no thoughts of taking the initiative to solve the conundrum, merely asking the ruling party to bear with him. But members of the ruling party are independent representatives of the people who cannot defy the public sentiment if it sours.

When Han specifically named people of Kim’s coterie meddling in state affairs, the president asked him to write down the details of the problems they caused and hand them over to his chief of staff, saying he will “judge” after studying them. In short, he won’t be dismissing anyone if he doesn’t agree. He seems to understand political issues in a legal context. People are confounded to learn the first lady has attempted to influence state affairs regardless of the illegality.

When Han pressed Yoon to appoint a special inspector on presidential family affairs, the president said the issue is up to the legislature. Again, he implies that he won’t take initiative on the appointment, as he wants the ruling party to cooperate on the agenda only if the majority opposition, the Democratic Party (DP), backs the government motion to launch a foundation to better human rights in North Korea — which the DP vehemently disagrees with.

After meeting Han, Yoon invited PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho for a dinner with presidential aides. The move could signal that the president will work with the floor leader instead of Han on political affairs. No good can come out of the president making an enemy out of the ruling party head. Bigwigs of the ruling party must come for mediation and make a plea to the president to solve the crisis.

The president has been worsening affairs by missing opportunities to make amends for every controversy. Whistleblowing related to the first lady from a so-called power broker can be the most serious setback since Yoon took office. He may never get another chance to make amends if he passes upon the opportunity this time as well.