Where’s the press conference, Mr. President?

Choi Min-woo
The author is the head of political news department of the JoongAng Ilbo.

President Yoon Suk-yeol has decided not to hold a New Year’s press conference this year again, according to a senior member of the presidential office on Friday. “We have reviewed various aspects but internally concluded that [the president will not hold a New Year’s press conference],” he said. “We are looking for an alternative [to replace the press conference].”

Yoon’s first — and last — press conference was on Aug. 17, 2022, to mark his 100 days in office. His door-stepping interview has stopped since November 2022 after an MBC reporter’s provocation. Yoon once again decided to skip an opportunity to have a press event.

It is not hard to see why. He probably does not have a clear answer — or only has a lame excuse — to questions about his wife, Kim Keon Hee. The president already vetoed a bill to start an independent counsel probe into several allegations against his wife. The presidential office said it would create an office to properly assist Kim and accept the National Assembly’s nomination of a special inspector.

And yet, it is inevitable for Yoon to make a statement to ease public criticisms toward Kim. The president can make an apology about a media report that Kim allegedly accepted a Dior handbag from a pastor in return for favors or make public what happened later. But in this case, the press conference will most likely focus on various suspicions surrounding his wife rather than being a venue to announce his plan on how to run the government for this year. Therefore, the presidential office may have concluded that there was more to lose than gain.

Another reason for avoiding the New Year’s press conference is the upcoming general elections. Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) believes that the worst is over after the launch of the emergency leadership under former Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon. The PPP’s support rate has not soared, yet it managed to succeed in creating a rivalry between Han and Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party (DP). In contrast, the DP lost points — despite the stabbing attack of Lee in Busan — due to the public criticism that Lee had received special treatment for his helicopter transfer from the Pusan National University Hospital to the Seoul National University Hospital for surgery.

The DP also saw more troubles as its former leader, Lee Nak-yon, abandoned his party membership, and controversies grew about the nomination processes of the majority party. The presidential office must have concluded that there was no need to reignite the controversy surrounding Kim by holding a New Year’s press conference. Some say that there will be no public activity of Kim until the April 10 parliamentary elections are over.

Since a president is also a politician and the general election outcome is crucial on how to run the country in the future, the press conference can be postponed when necessary. But this is not the first time that the president decided to skip a media event. On Jan 15, Yoon said in a live-air discussion that the government will invest 622 trillion won ($467.1 billion) in a semiconductor mega cluster. In earlier discussions, he unveiled key policies such as continuing the ban on short selling and easing land development regulations. But none of the events included any questions to the president.

“I will not hide behind my aides and frankly confess the government’s mistakes,” Yoon said on March 10, 2022, the day of his election victory. It didn’t seem to be empty words. But what happened now? It has been two years since he took office, but he had only one official press conference. In the past, presidents often talked with the press on the presidential plane during overseas trips, but the tradition also vanished. Even if the media are hostile, simply avoiding the press is not the answer. Holding a press conference is also a responsibility of a leader of a democratic country.

Yoon was elected president for his courage that does not fear the power. His accomplishments as the president include the normalization of Korea-Japan relations and improving the transparency of labor unions. This was possible as he confronted the anti-Japanese sentiment — an issue that politicians all want to avoid — and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions with principles. The public enthusiastically supported Yoon for directly tackling issues without hesitation rather than calculating political gains. This is what made him Yoon Suk Yeol.

Recently, a Seoul court ruled in favor of the Foreign Ministry that demanded the broadcaster MBC to correct its report on Yoon’s hot mic moment during his visit to the United States in 2022. We hope to see a correction from the presidential source’s recent remarks that Yoon will not hold the New Year’s press conference.