President Lee Jae-myung met with the ruling and opposition party leadership on the 16th and said, "The president is not the leader of the Democratic Party but is in a position to represent the entire nation," adding, "I increasingly think we must strive to broadly reflect the diverse views of the people." In particular, he asked for cooperation, saying, "On national security and foreign affairs, I would like the opposition, as much as possible, to join forces." However, he did not respond to the opposition's demands for the exercise of the re-veto power (veto) on the second omnibus special counsel on "insurrection, Kim Keon-hee, and the Marine's death in the line of duty," or for special counsels into alleged Unification Church collusion and money-for-nominations linked to ruling party politicians.
On this day, President Lee invited the ruling and opposition party leadership to Sangchunjae at Cheong Wa Dae for a luncheon. Party leaders and floor leaders from the Democratic Party, Rebuilding Korea Party, The Progressive Party, Basic Income Party, and The Social Democratic Party of Korea attended. Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok was on an overseas trip, so only floor leader Cheon Ha-ram attended, and the People Power Party leadership did not attend, demanding a "one-on-one summit." Considering that progressive parties such as the Reform Party are sometimes categorized as part of the broad pro-government camp, the Reform Party was the only opposition party to attend.
According to Cheong Wa Dae, at the meeting President Lee said, "I felt firsthand that each country is waging an intense diplomatic battle over its national interest," adding, "At least in external relations, let's unite our efforts (between the ruling and opposition parties and the government) for the national interest." Regarding the administrative district integration the government released that day, he said it is "a path that we must take for the future of the Republic of Korea," and asked to "join forces to overcome the capital region's single-pole structure."
At the luncheon, demands were raised for exercising the re-veto (veto) on the second omnibus special counsel bill led by the Democratic Party, as well as for pushing special counsels on the Unification Church and nomination donations, prosecution reform, and election system reform. After completing a 19-hour National Assembly filibuster (unlimited debate) opposing the "second omnibus special counsel bill," Reform Party floor leader Cheon Ha-ram, who attended, said, "The president strongly criticized collusion between politics and the Unification Church," adding, "Please look deeply so that, regardless of party, the Unification Church special counsel and the money-for-nominations special counsel (involving Democratic Party lawmakers) can proceed."
He said, "If the Yoon Suk-yeol administration had accepted the special counsels on Sergeant Chae and Kim Keon-hee, the tide of history would have changed greatly," adding, "Even if people close to the president might become subjects of investigation ahead of the local elections, if the president shows that 'a special counsel is truly a fair tool,' it will be an enormous achievement and advance in the political history of the Republic of Korea."
However, Cheong Wa Dae said President Lee did not respond to these demands. At a briefing, senior presidential secretary for public affairs Lee Kyu-yeon said, "Today, the president did not specifically mention prosecution reform or the second special counsel bill," adding, "He mentioned uniting for the national interest and the issue of regional integration. On other matters, he did not go into specifics and was in a position of listening to the opposition's demands."