Hong Ik-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs at the Blue House, on the 8th addressed speculation in some political circles that President Lee Jae-myung had in mind a constitutional amendment for consecutive terms, saying, "Isn't there a time when (the president) can speak directly?" and added, "We believe the president will use that occasion to make his position clearer."
In a YouTube interview that morning on "Kim Ou-joon's Humility Is Difficult News Factory," when Kim Ou-joon said, "Some people suspect that everything could be settled with a single word from the president, but why is he deliberately not saying that word (that he cannot serve consecutive terms)?," Hong replied, "That time has not yet come," giving this answer.
Regarding the controversy sparked by National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik saying "Consecutive terms for a sitting president is a matter of the people's choice," he said, "Both the chief of staff and I clearly said that it is not possible under the current Constitution and that the president has not even considered such a thing, yet the controversy keeps growing, which is regrettable."
When Kim asked, "Have you heard suggestions that, to recover approval ratings, the president should personally persuade his base in his own words?," Hong said, "We are reviewing from multiple angles, without being bound by any particular format, what the most effective method would be."
On the controversy over canceling the prosecution of the president's case, he said, "From the president's perspective, I think the emphasis is more on fabricated indictments than on canceling the prosecution."
Hong added, "Once it is clearly revealed that there was a fabricated indictment, I think canceling the prosecution is an area that could naturally be considered afterward," and said, "I think us bringing up canceling the prosecution first is itself accepting the frame of some in the People Power Party or conservative media."
Hong also said, "Maintaining a wrongful prosecution itself is also wrong," and added, "We must never again see a government like Yoon Suk-yeol's, but even if one were to take office, I think it is important to create institutional safeguards so prosecutors cannot carry out political fabrication."
On the issue of dispatching troops to the Strait of Hormuz, he said, "Our government's position has not yet been finalized," and added, "Once the president returns from his trip, there will need to be further discussions."
Hong said, "The initial article made it appear almost like participation in combat, but that may not be the case, and because the government must make judgments considering various possibilities, I would say to our citizens, or to some who support the Democratic Party or the Lee Jae-myung administration, that this is not a situation to be concerned about."