Yoon, DP chief working out details of first-ever official meeting

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung are expected to hold their first official meeting this week, after holding a phone call on Friday. [NEWS1]

Details of a proposed first-ever meeting between President Yoon Suk Yeol and liberal Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung have yet to be set, the presidential office said Saturday, including its time and location.

On Friday, Yoon called Lee to invite him to hold their first one-on-one talks at the Yongsan presidential office this week.

Lee Do-woon, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said Yoon proposed to "first meet to start communicating" and discuss state affairs over tea or meals together over a five-minute phone call.

The president congratulated Lee and DP lawmaker-elects during the phone call following the April 10 general election. Lee, in turn, thanked Yoon for the invitation, indicating his party could help the president's tasks.

Such a meeting would mark their first one-on-one official meeting since the president began his term in May 2022, though the two sides have met informally at events.

The meeting date, agenda and format of the talks were expected to be coordinated by working-level officials from both sides.

On Saturday, the presidential office dismissed several reports that a meeting between Yoon and Lee would take place as early as Wednesday, calling them "not true."

It added that the "date and format of the meeting have yet to be determined."

DP sources indicated that topics of discussion could include a proposed supplementary budget of some 13 trillion won needed to fund Lee's relief fund for people's livelihoods and a special probe into the military's handling of the death of a Marine corporal who died last year while searching for missing people amid heavy monsoon rains and flooding.

Lee is expected to prioritize people's livelihood issues, according to party officials, and could raise the DP's initiative to distribute a cash subsidy of 250,000 won ($182) to all individuals, as pledged in the recent election, to help revive the local economy.

Yoon and his conservative People Power Party (PPP) suffered a crushing defeat in the recent parliamentary elections, with the DP again winning a majority of lawmakers' seats.

Thus, Yoon finds himself in a position where he must cooperate with opposing parties to push forward his planned reform agenda and budget bills.

The meeting between Yoon and Lee could be an opportunity for the DP chief to weigh in on appointing the next prime minister and presidential chief of staff.

It could also be an opportunity for Lee to raise sensitive issues, including a special investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee, who has stayed out of the public eye in the past several months following allegations that she received a luxury handbag from a pastor.

This comes as Yoon has suffered a drop in his approval ratings in recent polls. He saw his approval rating drop to a record low of 23 percent, according to a Gallup Korea poll on Friday, down 11 percentage points compared to the fourth week of March. Yoon's disapproval rating came in at a new high of 68 percent, according to the poll of 1,000 respondents over 18 from Tuesday through Thursday.

On Sunday, the DP appointed Kim Yun-duk, a two-term lawmakers who is a close confident of party Chairman Lee, as its new secretary general. Another reelected lawmaker, Rep. Jin Sung-joon, was named as new chief policymaker.

Rep. Park Chan-dae, a member of the DP supreme council who was reelected for a third term, said he will run for DP floor leader.

In turn, Yoon reportedly proposed a luncheon meeting with members of the PPP’s emergency steering committee, including former interim chief Han Dong-hoon, who stepped down from the post after his party’s general election defeat.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]