News Dive revisits the presidential press conference

President Lee Jae-myung held a press conference at the Blue House's Yeongbin Hall on September 18, declaring that he has "no intention of seeking a second term." Why would a sitting president announce an early exit from office? On this day's broadcast of 'News Dive,' the program walked through the entire press conference, which ran for over 100 minutes.

Asked about the withdrawal of prosecution (the prosecution's dropping of charges in cases currently before the courts), President Lee said he would focus on uncovering the truth. On whether he would appoint Kim Seung-won as justice minister, the president said he had not yet reached a final conclusion and would decide carefully, taking public sentiment into account. He also pledged to responsibly complete irreversible prosecutorial reform, and reportedly made an open request that the provision on the right to drop charges be removed from the special counsel bill on fabricated indictments.

Political reactions were mixed. The Democratic Party of Korea said the conference was reassuring and that his sincerity had come through, while the People Power Party questioned why such a conference had been held in the first place. Beyond these issues, President Lee also laid out his positions on economic and security matters, including housing policy, leveraged ETFs, and the deployment to the Strait of Hormuz.

Kim Seung-won, whose appointment had been left in limbo during the press conference, held his own press conference at the National Assembly's communication hall the following day, September 19, announcing his voluntary withdrawal, saying he did not want to burden the government. Kim had served as co-chair of a caucus of lawmakers formed to push for the withdrawal of charges in President Lee's case and for a parliamentary audit, and his withdrawal can be seen as the outcome of the "careful decision" President Lee had mentioned.