Broadcaster Heo Ji-woong tells Lee Jae-myung: 'What we need is moderation and common sense'

Author and broadcaster Heo Ji-woong has drawn attention after saying he is considering withdrawing his support for President Lee Jae-myung, citing disappointment over Lee's decision not to veto legislation abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers and over the recent cabinet appointments for the administration's second phase.

In a post Thursday on his personal social media account, accompanied by a recent photo of President Lee, Heo said he felt the administration was "increasingly cutting off the retreat and breathing room of its own supporters."

"The one reason I supported the current government, despite the conflict and cognitive dissonance it required, was that I believed it would avoid extremes and pursue the common sense of the center," he wrote. "What our community needs right now is nothing but moderation and common sense."

He then said the government "must pour all its energy into reforming the shortcuts and irregularities that were previously tolerated, bringing them up to the standards of an advanced capitalist society, and into protecting the safety and property of citizens," adding, "In the early days, it looked that way."

Heo said he was "deeply disappointed that the supplementary investigative powers were not defended," noting that preserving those powers had originally been the stated position of both the president and the Justice Ministry. "But they gave that up," he said, criticizing Lee's decision not to veto the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that would abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers.

He was equally critical of the second-phase cabinet appointments, saying he was "again disappointed." "Abandoning the defense of the supplementary investigative powers and the personnel decisions both point to the same destination," he wrote. "This is not the common sense of the center. It foreshadows new extreme conflict and harm for our community."

And went on to say he would "have to watch the confirmation hearing results and make my own decision," signaling that he may withdraw his support.

He closed by saying he quietly hoped "the presidential office will not be swayed by the curses of those shaking things from the outside and slide further down a steeper slope, but will recover only its original intentions."