Acting President Han's purple tie has appeared in every position that requires cooperation, such as addressing the National Assembly or preventing opposition parties.
Han's message was clear in the doorstep (abbreviated press conference) on the way to work and the subsequent public statement. At the doorstep, he said, "I think the people are now clearly voicing 'should not' against the fiercely opposed political circles." In the statement to the public, "The ruling and opposition parties and the government must be really different. I'll do that first," he stressed.
On the other hand, he did not want to provoke the National Assembly by avoiding an immediate answer, saying, "I'll see you soon," as to whether to appoint a candidate for Constitutional Judge Ma Eun-hyuk. There was no mention of President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial or various controversial bills. President Yoon's name did not appear at all in the public statement. Instead, acting authority Han immediately moved tirelessly, collecting pending trade issues and issuing emergency orders related to wildfires. There is an expectation that acting president Han, an expert in trade and diplomacy, will return to his job and improve his response system to the U.S. imposition of mutual tariffs and the designation of sensitive countries. After completing the doorstep earlier in the day, Han immediately visited the Central Disaster and Safety Situation Room and received reports from the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the Korea Forest Service, and the Korea Fire Service to check the response to forest fires.
An acting authority further declared a special disaster area and urged efforts to secure the safety management of forest fire extinguishing personnel. In the afternoon, he visited Uiseong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, toured the disaster site, and comforted the victims. An acting authority said on his way to work, "I will see people suffering from the big forest fires, and I will hand-in-hand letters of consolation, especially for those who have died."
In addition, the acting authority presided over an emergency National Security Council (NSC) plenary meeting on the same day and inspected the trade and security posture. "Today's security policy and economic policy cannot be separated from each other. All ministries should work closely as a team so that our companies operating in the global market can secure stable supply chains and demonstrate their capabilities to their heart's content," Han said.
Han then had a separate tee time for about 20 minutes with Choi Sang-mok, deputy prime minister for economy and minister of strategy and finance, who served as acting president during his suspension. Soon after, a meeting of the State Council members was held, which also served as a luncheon. Deputy Prime Minister Choi said, "Finally," and smiled at his fellow members as he entered the meeting.
Acting President Han shook hands with the members of the State Council one by one and said, "I am grateful that the Cabinet has made unwavering efforts to manage stable state affairs in an unprecedented situation where the president and the acting prime minister were both impeached."
"The Cabinet's mission is to speed up major pending issues directly related to people's livelihoods," he said. "It is up to Cabinet members and public officials across the country to see if all areas of state affairs, including diplomacy, security, economy, trade, security, and administration, work smoothly."
However, it is still unclear whether acting authority Han's "superpartisan move" can be successful in a situation where political conflict issues are accumulated.
The opposition party is under intense pressure to appoint Ma, who caused the impeachment crisis right now. Some members of the Democratic Party of Korea have already begun to argue that if they refuse to appoint Ma, they should impeach Han again. In addition, the permanent special prosecutor for Kim Gun-hee and drugs, who have already passed the National Assembly, stipulates that they should request the recommendation of the special prosecutor without delay, drawing keen attention to how Han will respond.
[Reporter Ahn Jung Hoon]
