Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on the 20th said, "There are people who say 'five years (of the Lee Jae-myung administration) is too short,'" drawing criticism from the People Power Party on the 21st as "an inappropriate remark with an eye on running in an election."
Earlier, on the 20th, Prime Minister Kim held a "K-governance briefing" for residents at Kim Dae-jung Auditorium in South Jeolla Provincial Government in Muan County, South Jeolla. At the event, Prime Minister Kim said, "Before the general election, people said 'five years is too long,' but these days they say 'five years is too short.'" He added, "There are also people who say they 'wish it could go on longer.'"
Prime Minister Kim also said of the recent state of Korea's economy, "There are still issues such as the exchange rate and the Seoul metropolitan area real estate market that everyone worries about, but what no one can deny is that the overall flow of the economy has begun to rebound."
Regarding the remarks, Choi Bo-yoon, senior spokesperson for the People Power Party, said on the 21st, "They are highly inappropriate." Choi said, "With less than half a year since the president's term began, the prime minister personally broaching the continuation of the term does not align with the duties and role of a prime minister."
Choi said, "The five-year single-term presidency stipulated by the Constitution is not a matter of choice or evaluation but a basic order of democracy." Choi added, "The prime minister's position is to coolly review the president's performance and steadily assist in state affairs, not to speak to musings on power or to channel the cheers of a support base."
Choi also said, "Among the public, there are actually many voices saying they are worried that 'there are still four years and six months left in the term.'" Choi continued, "At such an early point—too soon to be judged by performance or to be held to account—talking about the continuation of power sounds less like confidence and more like anxiety over governing, or it can only be seen as a remark conscious of the prime minister's own moves to run for office."
On Prime Minister Kim's recent positive assessment of the domestic economy, Choi said, "The exchange rate continues its steep climb, prices are squeezing the daily lives of ordinary people, and the Seoul metropolitan area's real estate anxiety and corporations' business sentiment remain bleak," adding, "In this situation, the very talk that 'the term is short' is a complacent judgment that turns a blind eye to the reality of governance."