President Lee Jae-myung cautioned against extreme agitation that puts assertions ahead when pushing reforms, noting that such an approach instead provokes backlash and counter-mobilization from the other side, blocking reform and causing the opposite effect.
On the 12th, the president shared on his social media (SNS) X (formerly Twitter) a post written by Park Tae-hoon, head of Youth Today Institute, and said as much.
Park, who served as a deputy spokesperson for The Progressive Party, wrote in the post, "What hurts more than the enemy outside are the words that shake from within," criticizing voices inside the progressive camp that are calling on the president for stronger reforms, while noting that hard-line prosecution reform advocates are staying silent on the "prosecution cabinet politics" attacking Kim Seung-won, the Minister of Justice nominee.
He went on to say that the current approval ratings are merely figures reflecting the many pending tasks—such as settling the legacy of insurrection, prosecution reform, real estate issues, regional extinction, the AI (artificial intelligence) transition, and inequality—and the resistance of vested interests surrounding them, and do not signify the success or failure of reform.
The president said, "I have never, even for a moment, given up the goals and values of reform," adding, "Reform is harder than revolution. There are countless tragic histories in which excess and speeding, failing to restrain the passion and pace of revolution, brought about the misfortune of counterrevolution."
He emphasized, "Reform must be delicate and procedural under the broadest possible consensus and must prove itself through effective outcomes by minimizing pain and resistance." He added, "When there is no authority, there is no responsibility, and the harm from irresponsible assertions is not great, but if one holds authority, one must bear corresponding, unlimited responsibility."
The president also said, "An election, which determines who will represent everyone, is different from a war, which determines who will take everything." He added, "Public office must be a servant for all. Proposing to appoint someone simply because they are close, even if they are corrupt and incompetent, is a shortcut to failure and the posture of a conqueror, not a representative."
He added, "If you do nothing, nothing happens," and, "In a process of positive change, that is, reform, the resistance and pain of those deprived of benefits by change are great, while the response and empathy from those who benefit are small."
In addition, the president said, "Reform inevitably entails backlash, but without reform there is no backlash," and, "The biggest obstacle to reform is obstructing reform in the name of reform."
He added, "I hope everyone can move forward together toward a nation that is independent, peaceful, and safe, and that is democratic, fair, and grows inclusively."
These remarks coincide with discontent inside the progressive camp over the recent prosecution investigative authority and organizational overhaul plan and the selection process for the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, where some say the "reform momentum has weakened." Amid recent shifts in approval ratings, the comments are seen as both reassuring the core base and conveying the message that tangible results and internal unity should take priority over excessive competition for hard-line clarity.