The presidential office on the 14th stressed that it was only natural, given the purpose of the event, saying, "President Lee Jae-myung gave residents the opportunity to speak," after controversy arose over President Lee stopping comments by Kim Jin-tae, the People Power Party-affiliated Gangwon governor, during a town hall meeting in Gangwon Province.
Kang Yu-jung, Spokesperson for the presidential office, said at a briefing that day, "It was a natural measure to give speaking opportunities to residents who made the difficult trip, in keeping with the purpose of the (town hall) event to listen directly to residents' voices. It is appropriate for public officials, including the president, to listen to this."
She added, "A local government head has the right and duty to independently host a town hall meeting to hear local government opinions and can hold one at any time. Nevertheless, insisting too strongly on the right to speak and even adding a kind of frame is very much at odds with the original intent."
Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung, at a town hall meeting held in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on the 12th, stopped Governor Kim when he tried to speak to provide additional explanation, saying, "Governor, please hold back a bit." Similar scenes were repeated several times during the event. As the event was coming to an end, President Lee said to Governor Kim, "If there is something that absolutely must be said from Gangwon's standpoint, send a separate document to the presidential office and I will take a look."
Some in the opposition raised what they called a "controversy over a government-influenced election." Chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon criticized in a commentary the day before, "At a time ahead of next year's local elections, behavior that appears to limit speaking opportunities only for opposition figures blatantly reveals political discrimination even in front of the public." He added that while sufficient speaking time was given to Democratic Party district chiefs, the opposition-affiliated local government head's remarks were blocked.
Spokesperson Kang rebutted these claims, saying, "Some in the opposition are disparagingly trying to distort the president's request to prioritize the people's voices as a government-influenced election and use it as fodder for political strife, which runs counter to national unity."
Meanwhile, regarding whether the presidential office had been briefed in advance during the process of reversing the bipartisan special counsel bill agreement, an official at the presidential office said, "At the press conference on the 11th, the president said it was 'something he was not aware of at all,'" and answered, "We substitute the president's words that 'it is difficult to make laws related to rebellion, including a special counsel, the subject of bargaining with other matters.'"