The People Power Party on the 18th noted that the United States designating South Korea as a 'sensitive country' calls for a response from the government to be 'calmly monitored.'
Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader, met with reporters shortly after a parliamentary countermeasure meeting that morning and said, 'The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy have begun substantive consultations with the United States regarding the lifting of the sensitive country designation.' He also noted, 'According to what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced, it's not due to the nuclear armament theory claimed by the Democratic Party, but rather security issues at a research institute under the Department of Energy, so I think it might be a priority to observe the government's activities.'
The Democratic Party has intensified its offensive by pointing to the 'nuclear armament theory within the passport' as a cause for the designation as a sensitive country.
Kim Dae-sik, the chief spokesperson, pointed out in a statement, 'The Democratic Party is linking this issue to the 'state of emergency' and 'nuclear armament theory,' thereby spreading political conflict,' and emphasized, 'Rather than supporting the government's diplomatic response, they are ultimately focused solely on completing 'impeachment politics.'
Members of the ruling party from the National Assembly's Committee on Foreign Affairs and Unification also issued a statement that day, saying, 'Rather than deceiving the public with baseless conspiracy theories, the Democratic Party should focus on dispelling the worried perceptions towards Representative Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party that are prevalent in various circles in the U.S.' and urged, 'Stop producing conspiracy theories immediately, and sincerely apologize to the public for inciting them with various rumors.'
Kim Geon, the ruling party's committee member in the Committee on Foreign Affairs, pointed out during the parliamentary countermeasure meeting, 'The opposition party is only focused on using the government and ruling party as fodder for their political attacks regarding the sensitive country designation issue,' and added, 'It brings to mind past instances where they misled the public with rumors.' He continued, 'A calm and objective response is more important than ever,' asserting, 'Do not drag diplomacy into the arena of political conflict.'
In addition, Rep. Kang Dae-sik, the ruling party's committee member of the National Assembly's Defense Committee, criticized Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's remark calling the ruling party's nuclear armament theory 'a hollow puff,' stating, 'It is a reckless statement that ignores the security threats faced by the international community and the situation of North Korea's nuclear development,' and sarcastically questioned, 'What is the solution for protecting the lives of the people and national security from North Korea's nuclear attacks from someone under trial for illegal remittances to North Korea?'
Additionally, Rep. Kim Ki-hyun criticized on Facebook Lee's comments about the Yoon Suk-yeol government's 'diplomatic disaster,' saying, 'The proverb 'the farting dog barks' immediately comes to mind.'
Rep. Kim stated, 'The People Power Party has worked hard to rebuild the South Korea-U.S. alliance, which was undermined during the Moon Jae-in administration, but the absurd North Korea-leaning ideology and the gene of the excessive deference to China from the large opposition party, the Democratic Party, have pushed the Korea-U.S. alliance into crisis.'