Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on the 18th said, "The bigger problem is whether the Lee Jae-myung administration was passed over and excluded as the United States scaled down the South Korea–U.S. joint exercises."
In a Facebook post the same day, Han said, "It appears the United States will carry out a reduction of the South Korea–U.S. joint exercises," adding, "Given that North Korea's extreme hostility toward the Republic of Korea has not changed, the reduction of the joint exercises itself is also concerning."
He continued, "The bigger problem is whether the Lee Jae-myung administration was passed over and excluded in the process of the United States making such a decision," and asked, "When and through what channel did the Lee Jae-myung administration learn that the United States intended to scale down the South Korea–U.S. joint exercises?"
He went on, "The U.S. President's social media message contains a hint that can be interpreted as linking the reduction of the South Korea–U.S. joint exercises to the Lee Jae-myung administration's response to the Hormuz situation," and pressed, "Regarding the Hormuz situation, what request did the United States make, and how did the Lee Jae-myung administration respond?"
Han criticized, "In this unprecedented situation where the U.S. President is publicly revealing negative feelings toward the Lee Jae-myung administration, the public has a right to know what on earth is happening and whether the Lee Jae-myung administration is conducting diplomacy at all."