President Lee Jae-myung Reaffirms He Has Never Given Up on Reform

President Lee Jae-myung said on the 12th, while quoting a post on X, that he has never given up on reform. "Not a single word of it is wrong," the president said, emphasizing the need to guard against currents that block reform through radical agitation.

"Reform is harder than revolution," Lee noted, adding, "There is no shortage of regrettable histories in which the excesses and haste of failing to restrain the passion and speed of revolution brought about the misfortune of counterrevolution." He went on to stress that reform must be meticulous and procedural under the broadest possible consensus, minimizing pain and resistance so that its effectiveness is proven by tangible results.

He wrote that those who hold power must shoulder the corresponding boundless responsibility. "Elections and wars are different, and public office must be a servant to all," Lee wrote. "Appointing people because they are close, despite being corrupt and incompetent, is a shortcut to failure."

Behind his remarks lies resistance from the progressive camp over prosecutorial reform and the appointment of the head of the Corruption Investigation Office. Within the democratic-progressive camp, criticism of a reform retreat had been mounting over pending prosecutorial reform tasks, including a revision bill on the indictment review body, and the nomination of a former prosecutor as the first chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials.

"The biggest obstacle to reform is obstructing reform in the name of reform," the president reiterated. He closed the post by saying, "I hope we can all move forward together toward a country that is independent, peaceful, and secure; a country that is democratic, fair, and growing through inclusive growth."