Lee Targets Politicians' 'Qualifications'

President Lee Jae-myung has made successive statements questioning politicians' ability, motives, and morality. The internal conflict within the ruling party over the president's personnel appointments is escalating into disputes over politicians' 'qualifications.'

On the 11th, the president wrote on his SNS, "It is difficult for someone who has lived comfortably thanks to their parents' wealth without hardship and has spent their entire life in high positions to understand the lives and perceptions of struggling ordinary citizens."

He continued, criticizing "those who enjoy all luxuries with the tax money of ordinary citizens while being harsher on the powerless, and who without hesitation cut small amounts of welfare budgets for ordinary people," emphasizing "one must know that the blade wielded thoughtlessly by those in power can wound lives one has never seen or imagined."

The president did not name any specific individual. However, political circles interpret the remarks as being directed at Choo Mi-ae, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who recently became embroiled in controversy over welfare budget cuts and so-called 'perks' disputes involving official residences and government vehicles.

Particular attention is being paid to the fact that these remarks came right after Governor Choo clarified the previous day about the childcare budget controversy, stating "the misunderstanding that I arbitrarily cut the budget is not true."

This is not the first time the president has questioned politicians' qualifications.

On the 9th, he criticized, "It is more problematic when those without ability demand high office, attempt to execute personnel and national policy according to their wishes, and when things go wrong, use grand principles as pretext to introduce radical reform and conduct internal attacks."

Those remarks were interpreted as being directed at hardline members of the ruling party who have been opposing the appointment of Kim Ji-yong as the inaugural chief of the Major Crime Investigation Office.

Governor Choo has characterized Kim as a 'pro-Yoon prosecutor' and questioned the appropriateness of his appointment. Meanwhile, President Lee countered that Kim was an 'anti-Yoon prosecutor,' expressing a critical stance toward moves to intervene in personnel and policy matters under the guise of prosecutorial reform.

The exchange between the two shows differences in target and method of attack. While Governor Choo questioned the suitability of the personnel appointment chosen by the president, President Lee has raised questions about the political motives and qualifications of those who have criticized the appointment.

On the 9th, he questioned ability and political motives; on the 11th, he questioned sense of entitlement and empathy toward ordinary citizens. Although the specific targets of criticism are not clearly identified, common ground can be found in that statements questioning politicians' qualifications and attitudes are being made repeatedly.

Notably, as the president goes beyond directly rebutting criticism on personnel matters to question the motives of critics themselves, the focus of the dispute is also shifting.

In addition to the question of whether the appointment was appropriate, the issue of what motives and qualifications those criticizing the appointment possess is now being raised.

The question posed by the president at the end of this statement ultimately pointed toward the reason for politicians' existence.

"Why do we engage in politics? A question that those of us in politics must continually reflect upon."