Jung Jeong-sik: "Lee Jae-myung's remark on seeking a second term 'could change at any time'"

Jung Jeong-sik, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said on the 18th that President Lee Jae-myung's statement at his press conference that he had no plans to seek a second term carried "the nuance that he could change his mind," and criticized the president's press conference overall as a "vacuous war of words." "Most assessments come down to this: 'Can we trust words the president was pressured into saying because his approval ratings are falling?'" Jung said, adding, "He did not promise 'I will absolutely never seek a second term' — he only said he 'has no thought of seeking one.'" He went on: "He has outsourced the constitutional amendment debate to the Democratic Party, laying the groundwork to change his mind when the time comes," saying, "I am increasingly convinced there will be no constitutional revision under this administration."

Jung also criticized the president as "utterly irresponsible" over his remark regarding the decision process on leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs): "I have not yet grasped the details of the procedures involved." "He inflicted 54 trillion won in losses on the people," Jung said, announcing, "We will push forward with a special counsel act on single-stock leveraged ETFs."

On the sweeping farmland survey, Jung said President Lee's answer that "the opponents of reform have grown strong" amounted to "driving despairing and angry farmers into the camp of reform opponents and resistance forces," calling him "a truly bad president."

He added: "He also slipped evasively around difficult questions such as the chief justice's re-nomination of Supreme Court justices and US pressure to expand semiconductor plants. A truly cowardly president."