On the June 3 local elections: "I was not in good shape on Tuesday and Wednesday either"
Lee says Kim Min-seok better suited for "another role"; cabinet reshuffle expected "at appropriate time"
"We cannot abandon the goal of peaceful reunification — for now, we must pursue coexistence"
President Lee Jae Myung said Monday that the outcome of the June 3 local elections was "at minimum, not a success," describing the results as a warning from the public to him and his administration.
Lee also said he considers Han Sung-sook, the minister of SMEs and startups whom he has tapped as the country's next prime minister, fully qualified for the role, and signaled that additional cabinet changes would follow at the right time.
Speaking at a press conference marking his first year in office at Cheong Wa Dae's Yeongbingwan, Lee was asked to assess the June 3 local elections. "I need to adopt a lower posture and be more humble," he said. "Incomprehensible things did happen, but I take it as a warning from the people — to me, or to this administration."
On whether the ruling party won or lost, Lee said the answer depends on the standard applied, but added: "If you lost what you were supposed to win, or lost where you had to win, that is a different matter. At minimum, it was not a success."
The assessment appeared to reflect the fact that while the Democratic Party of Korea won the majority of metropolitan gubernatorial and mayoral races overall, it effectively lost the Seoul mayoral race and a series of by-elections.
Lee continued: "From where I stand — accepting this as a warning — I think even a drought is the president's responsibility. Elections are like offering a ritual to the heavens. Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ji-won sometimes says, 'In golf and elections, you lose the moment you lift your head.' There is a world of difference between giving everything with humility and letting your mind wander."
He added: "You may think you can fool the people around you, but you cannot fool a vast collective intelligence with a hundred million eyes and ears and 50 million voices. The people are truly formidable."
Lee also acknowledged his own complacency. "I took things too lightly in some ways. I worked hard, I hadn't done anything wrong — I won't pretend I never thought, 'Surely they won't abandon me.' I felt I may have lacked the resolve to cast that feeling aside entirely and fight to the very last to persuade people," he said.
Referring to the days surrounding the vote, Lee said, "I was not in good shape on Tuesday and Wednesday either. The conclusion is my own shortcomings." He added that the administration's policy direction would not change, but that he would work harder.
Lee also drew a distinction between the roles of the ruling and opposition parties. "The opposition must thrust well with the spear, but the ruling party must be the vessel," he said. "People who enter the castle may have different colors and different views, but you must gather as many as possible and practice inclusion and unity."
His remark — "Is it right to insult someone who has come inside your home by saying, 'This is our color,' or 'You'll betray us and walk out one day'?" — was widely interpreted as a pointed message to the ruling party leadership.
On his decision to nominate Han as prime minister, Lee said: "There was quite a bit of deliberation, but in the end I chose someone who will simply work — someone who will just get things done."
"I want our cabinet to run at full speed with everything it has within the given environment," he said. "That is why I judged Minister Han to be the right fit."
He spoke of Han with a touch of humor: "She works incredibly hard and does well. I hear the civil servants find it a bit tough," he said, adding, "I want other civil servants to feel a little of that toughness too."
On outgoing Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, Lee said: "Under Prime Minister Kim's outstanding leadership, the cabinet has run hard and in unison toward a single goal — without any major noise or friction — in the direction I set. I felt it was now more appropriate for him to take on another role, so we made the change."
"He also delivered a great deal of results," Lee added. "I wonder if there has ever been a cabinet in history that produced this many concrete achievements in such a short time. He did exceptionally well."
Asked whether further cabinet changes were planned, Lee said he was not yet certain about the timing, but suggested "there will likely be a reshuffle of appropriate scale at an appropriate time."
On inter-Korean relations, Lee said the administration must follow the path set by the Constitution. "We cannot abandon the aspiration for peaceful reunification," he said.
He added, however, that raising reunification in the current climate would only worsen relations. "For now, I think we should communicate, hold dialogue, show mutual respect and pursue peaceful coexistence — while still working ceaselessly toward improving the relationship," he said.
Asked about the attack on the South Korean vessel Namu in the Strait of Hormuz by what Seoul assessed to be an Iranian missile, Lee said: "If it had been intentional, they would have declared, 'We did it.' It is certain this was not a deliberate attack."
"There are various factors involved, but from our perspective it appears to have been an Iranian missile, so we lodged a stern protest and demanded measures to prevent a recurrence," he said. "We told them: you are likely responsible, this happened in waters connected to you, and that is why we are protesting."
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