Dongyang University Professor Jin Joong-kwon strongly criticized President Lee Jae-myung’s governance and conflicts within the ruling camp in a Facebook post on September 13.
He raised questions about the president’s perception of reality, citing public opinion polls concerning government approval ratings and President Lee’s posts on X (formerly Twitter).
He also mentioned the appointment of Kim Seung-won as a nominee for minister of justice and the possibility of pursuing the withdrawal of prosecutions, but these were Professor Jin’s predictions.
3-Line Summary
1. Professor Jin Joong-kwon criticized President Lee.
2. He interpreted the conflict as a relationship issue between the party and the president.
3. The appointment and prosecution withdrawal were Professor Jin’s predictions.
Approval Ratings and X Posts Discussed in the Facebook Post on September 13
Professor Jin posted on Facebook on September 13 criticizing President Lee Jae-myung’s governance. According to Herald Economy and the Kangwon Ilbo, he mentioned public opinion polls concerning government approval ratings and assessed that the rate of decline was steep despite the administration being in its early stages.
Professor Jin also cited President Lee’s posts on X as grounds for his criticism. He said the president appeared to have lost his sense of reality and claimed that he felt concerns similar to those expressed in a past post he had written about former President Yoon Suk Yeol. This was Professor Jin’s political assessment and did not establish the results of public opinion polls or the performance of the government.
He also mentioned housing prices and the expression “structural majority.” Here as well, rather than assessing the results of individual policies, he viewed there as being a gap between the messages issued by the president and his perception of reality.
An Interpretation of “Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party” and “The Democratic Party of Lee Jae-myung”
Professor Jin described conflicts within the ruling camp through the framework of “Is it Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party, or the Democratic Party of Lee Jae-myung?” He argued that traditional Democratic Party supporters place the party ahead of the president, while the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction places the president at the center.
He also used an expression grouping former President Moon Jae-in, Cho Kuk, leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, Kim Eo-jun, former Democratic Party of Korea leader Chung Chung-rae, and writer Yoo Si-min. His classification and explanation of the causes of the conflict were Professor Jin’s interpretation and did not mean that these individuals had officially stated that they shared the same position.
Professor Jin argued that the actual issues were the withdrawal of prosecutions and a constitutional amendment allowing consecutive terms, rather than the debate over prosecution reform. His remarks focused on interpreting the conflict within the ruling camp as a problem concerning the relationship between the party and the president rather than a confrontation between policy lines.
The Outlook for Nominee Kim Seung-won’s Appointment Is Not Confirmed
Professor Jin identified Kim Seung-won, the nominee for minister of justice, as a key figure in the latest cabinet reshuffle. He then said that President Lee would appoint Kim and that Kim would pursue the withdrawal of prosecutions.
However, this was not an announcement that the appointment and pursuit of prosecution withdrawal had been decided; it was Professor Jin’s prediction. He anticipated that, if such a situation arose, it could lead to falling approval ratings and a lame-duck presidency.
These remarks constituted a criticism linking the president’s messages, relations between the ruling party and the presidential office, and the issue of the minister of justice nominee into a single chain of events. Accordingly, Professor Jin’s strong assessment and actual personnel and policy decisions need to be considered separately.
References
Tags #JinJoongkwon #PresidentLeeJaeMyung #DongyangUniversity #Facebook #X #RulingCampConflict #DemocraticPartyOfKorea #KimSeungwon #MinisterOfJusticeNominee #ProsecutionWithdrawal #ConstitutionalAmendmentForConsecutiveTerms #GovernmentApprovalRatings #PoliticalCommunity