Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, attended the party's on-site supreme committee meeting and emphasized, "I urge the Constitutional Court to make a swift ruling for the normalization of the Republic of Korea." He noted the passing over Korea by the U.S. Secretary of Defense and stated that normal leadership is necessary to resolve the international community's distrust.
At the supreme committee meeting held in front of Gwanghwamun in Seoul on the morning of the 14th, Lee said, "U.S. Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth excluded Korea from his first Indo-Pacific tour. So-called passing over happened."
He criticized, "The prevailing analysis is that this is due to government chaos and political instability," adding, "In a situation where immediate action is urgent for national interests after the great transition of the international order, the government’s response has become so habitual that security passing has become commonplace."
Along with this, Lee noted, "The possibility of renegotiating the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement has been raised, but the golden time for tariff negotiations is slipping away without any effort," and stated, "The essence of all these crises lies in the continuation of government chaos."
He also emphasized that normal leadership must be restored. Lee stated, "To prove the resilience of the Republic of Korea, we must swiftly resolve the international community's distrust," and stressed, "Only by restoring normal leadership can we overcome the current crisis."
Lee stated, "Now is the time for everyone to unite for the rapid normalization of the Republic of Korea," and reiterated, "I urge the Constitutional Court's swift ruling once again."
Regarding the pension reform, where both parties are at an impasse, he expressed, "I truly wonder whether the ruling party has any will for pension reform." and criticized, "The People Power Party throws stones once it seems that the Democratic Party has barely made concessions to reach an agreement and then throws stones again to obstruct the process as they look for a way to agree."
He criticized, "This is the behavior of the government and ruling party that puts on a show while not actually taking action; even children's play is not done like this." He continued, stating that since they have reached an agreement on pension reform in a large framework, discussions should continue with the aim of passing it in the plenary session on the 20th. He urged for a swift change in the People Power Party's position.
On that day, the Democratic Party held a second on-site supreme committee meeting near the tent protest site in front of Gwanghwamun to urge the dismissal of President Yoon Suk-yeol. Lee Jae-myung, who had not attended the first on-site supreme committee meeting on the 14th due to 'personal safety concerns', attended under police protection on this day.