Political parties on edge ahead of Lee's 7th press conference

Political circles are closely watching President Lee Jae Myung's seventh press conference since taking office, scheduled for Friday at Cheong Wa Dae's Yeongbingwan banquet hall, with particular attention on expected announcements regarding a second-term Cabinet reshuffle and real estate policy.

Democratic Party Floor Leader Han Byung-do said at a policy coordination meeting at the National Assembly on Thursday that the Friday press conference "will serve as a forum for listening to the public and engaging in sincere dialogue on key national affairs." He also said the People Power Party leadership had been "exploiting the press conference as fodder for political attacks day after day," urging the main opposition party to "stop the curses and harsh words and instead pursue cooperative governance."

PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok struck a sharply different tone at a supreme council meeting the same day, saying the press conference would only be meaningful if President Lee first apologized to the public "for his arrogance and incompetence." Jang said Lee should "declare a fundamental shift in the direction of state affairs across all policy areas — including real estate and the troop deployment to Iran — and offer clear answers the public can accept."

Even within the ruling party, voices are growing louder that the press conference must offer something capable of reversing the president's sliding approval ratings and shifting the political momentum.

Democratic Party lawmaker Yun Geon-yeong, appearing on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus," said President Lee should approach the conference with the mindset of "giving 11 when the public wants 10." He added that creating "a turning point to stop the approval rating decline and rebuild the momentum to govern" was essential — echoing his earlier call for the president to leave nothing unresolved.

Lawmaker Lee Gwang-jae, in a KBS Radio interview on Wednesday, said the president "needs to clearly address several uncertain factors that have been obstructing the political situation." He added that on questions such as dropping criminal charges and constitutional reform to allow consecutive terms, "since these are political matters, I expect the president will bring them up at the press conference."

Kim Jong-in, former emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, appeared on CBS Radio's "Park Seong-tae's News Show" and called on the president to state his position on constitutional reform plainly. "He must clearly tell ordinary citizens what they stand to gain," Kim said. "If he says he will pursue constitutional reform, he must explain to the public in detail what the problem is and what he intends to do about it — vague language is absolutely unacceptable."