[On-site Video+] President Yoon said, "I will work hard to become a competent government, a party."

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
Let's start the press conference right away. Let me give you a heads-up first. At today's press conference, we will take enough questions without any subject restrictions. However, we ask for your understanding that we inevitably divided the questions into topics in the process so that they do not change frequently or break the flow of questions.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Wait a minute. Make your questions clear. If there are too many questions, I might miss them, so even if you divide them, I think I can answer them more smoothly.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
After receiving sufficient questions on political issues, we will move on to diplomatic and security questions as the U.S. presidential election and national security situation, which the world is paying attention to, are also serious. Next, we will have time to ask additional questions through current economic and social issues and free questions again. Then, if you want to ask questions, raise your hand, if you are picked, please stand up, reveal your affiliation and name, and ask questions. First, the field of politics. If you want a question, raise your hand and I'll give you the microphone. Let me first ask the first question to reporter Park Mi-young, who is the general secretary of the Presidential Office's Access Journalists Group.

[Reporter]
How are you? I'm Park Miyoung of Newsis. I will ask just one question today so that many reporters can ask a lot of questions. The president just bowed his head and apologized to the people. Please tell me why and why you decided to apologize.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
After the press conference on May 10, senior journalists said it would be nice to do this every three months, so I took the opportunity to communicate like this. Although today is the 10th, the halfway point of his term. So I should look back on the past two and a half years and say thank you and apologies to the people as we start. It's not a shame that the chief executive of state affairs has thought about it and apologizes to the people, but it's respect and respect for the people. So I thought it was right to show gratitude and respect to the people before the briefing before the halfway point of his term.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Kim Seung-wook of Yonhap.

[Reporter]
Mr. President, how are you? I'm Kim Seung-wook from Yonhap News. I'd like to ask you a question about the direction of state reform. Calls for a reshuffle of state administration and a change in the direction of state administration, including the reorganization of the cabinet and the reorganization of the presidential office, are being raised not only by the opposition party but also by some members of the ruling party. Please answer as specifically as possible how you will respond to these demands.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
It's a good question, but it's difficult to answer in detail. I always think that everything has to be consistent with a certain stance, but in the way we work and communicate with the people, we should always change, and we always think about finding the right people in the right place and leaving them to work. However, our thoughts are in the past, but the reality is that in the past, if we said that we needed a reorganization of state affairs or a change of phase, wouldn't the deputy minister's appointment appear on the front page of the newspaper in the morning?

Now, it is fundamentally difficult to do this as soon as possible because we have to think about how the public will accept it when we come up with such a personnel plan without any problems in the verification process. However, at the halfway point of my term, I will tell you that I am already looking for and verifying the talent pool in order to show the aspect of personnel reform at an appropriate time. After the National Assembly's budget is completed, the government will probably launch in January because of the U.S. presidential election, but all the frameworks are drawn up in a month or two, so let me tell you that we are thinking flexibly about the timing.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. KBS reporter Jang Deok-soo.

[Reporter]
Mr. President, how are you? I'm Jang Deok-soo of KBS. I'd like to ask you a question about Myung Taekyun. After the allegations were raised, the president's office said it remembered that it had cut off communication with advice at the end of the primary. However, controversy is growing as the recordings of the president and Myung have been released recently. I wonder if you've really cut off communication with Myung since the presidential election or if you haven't contacted him. I wonder how you will respond if the call or text message is released.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Let me explain it in detail. First of all, these controversies related to Myung Tae-kyun became a media report, so I went to the back of the race during the morning secretariat meeting and said, "Don't contact me now because something like that happened." I've also seen that some media outlets said that Myung Tae-kyun also heard from a candidate with a similar purpose. I did that, but I got a call after I was elected, but I don't know what it was. I deleted my phone number and the name still remains on Telegram, so I don't know if it's on the phone or the phone.Ma has received it anyway.

So I got a congratulatory call and said that I definitely remember saying that Myung Tae-kyun did a good job because he moved to help in the beginning of the election, but it's hard for a spokesperson to talk about things related to the media, so he might have sent me a text message to say that he didn't actually contact me after the second half of the race. But if I don't answer the text message, it's hard to say that I'm communicating with you, right? I called you for something good, and I can't say thank you.

However, in the early days of the election, I didn't know anything about politics, so it was about politicians. For example, if I go to a certain area like this, I'm interested in this when I meet people in that area, so I think it would be good to tell them this. Of course, I didn't just get that from Myung Tae-kyun, but I got it from hundreds of people, but I did it because I thought I couldn't do it because he was talking about a problem that I wouldn't be able to do in the second half of the primary.

But anyway, I definitely told my staff that I answered the phone at the time because I thought it would have been disappointing for me and that I couldn't talk about this and that for a long time when talking to the media, so I think I only said the most basic things. I didn't do anything inappropriate related to Myung Tae-kyun, and there's nothing to hide.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Kim Kyu-tae of the Munhwa Ilbo.

[Reporter]
Hello, Mr. President. I'm Kim Kyu-tae of the Munhwa Ilbo. I'd like to ask you the next question. It is alleged that you have also contacted Myung Tae-kyun frequently since the inauguration of the president. In this regard, please explain until when you contacted me and why you contacted me.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
I just asked because I can't ask you to look at my wife's phone. Because there are these controversies. Anyway, my wife said that once I'm elected president and inaugurated, the way we communicate should be different from before, so I think she's reduced herself a lot. It is said that he texted me a few times. But it's kind of hard for me to reveal that here, but there were a lot of everyday things. That's right. So, as far as I know, there aren't many times.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Lee Kyung-won of Kookmin Ilbo.

[Reporter]
Mr. President, how are you? This is Kyungwon Lee of Kookmin Ilbo. I would like to take this opportunity today to ask the President for a detailed explanation of various suspicions based on the recording of Myung Tae-kyun. If I can summarize the important keywords, I think there will be about three. First of all, public opinion manipulation, then nomination intervention, and finally Changwon Industrial Complex. I don't think it would be right for me to explain these suspicions again and again today. Prosecutors will also investigate various issues.Ma would like to ask you to speak responsibly so that many people can hear an explanation that is convincing through this press conference.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Public opinion manipulation, nomination, and Changwon. I never asked Myung Taekyun to do any kind of poll. And I've received a lot of comments during the election, such as poll announcements by Myung Tae-kyun or politicians of our party, or this will be announced tomorrow, just keep it in mind. And I have no reason to manipulate the polls, and the polls turned out well, so there is no reason to manipulate them, and even if they don't come out well, I've never done anything like that in my life.

I was reported that there was a suspicion that the government left it to Myung Tae-kyun, but I basically told him not to do a presidential approval rating survey with national taxes when polling in the presidential office. At first, the senior secretary for political affairs sometimes does it, such as the first or second senior secretary for political affairs. Don't do this to me. Poll the policy. So I don't think we have that much budget a year, but our government mainly focuses on policies and how the people respond to this policy. I think the presidential approval rating survey has been done within five fingers so far.

And I brought that and told them not to do this next time. And I'd like to tell you that the polls are done from the beginning by going through all the procedures from the stage of the contract, and it's not that simple to spend national money. In addition, the definition of nomination intervention should be considered. For example, when I was elected, there were several parliamentary by-elections held simultaneously with local elections and simultaneously with the presidential election.

In addition, there is a parliamentary by-elections held at the same time as the local elections on June 1, and most of the people who will go to the by-elections are determined. It's not like creating a talent recruitment committee and scoring it strictly by the nomination review committee, but it's usually decided, so our bodyguards did that to me during those two months when I was elected. I've never seen the president-elect work so late. I really have to greet the vice ministers and vice ministers until 2 a.m. at the safe house, and interview them in person if necessary. Because it's such a time, I can't say anything about the nomination of the party, and I have to be constantly briefed on the progress of the transition team, and I've been busy with more than a high school senior.

And a few days ago, there was a rumor about the nomination, so I thought the head of the mission was our chief of staff, Jeong Jin-seok. I thought the chairman of the local election commission was doing this together and I tried to ask what the situation was like at the time, but the chairman of the by-elections commission said Yoon Sang-hyun was the chairman of the commission. That's how much I couldn't be interested in the party's nomination. On the contrary, the party is proceeding with the nomination process, and some of the senior members of the party call me and ask me to make these things more desirable because public opinion is not good, but even in that case, I only talked about the principle and principle, and I have never said to give someone a nomination. So the call...

I don't know if it's a phone call or a recorded Telegram call.I thought I would have been disappointed by myself a few months ago, so I got some and I think I said that I worked hard. And I don't remember talking about any nomination, but it's already been decided by the party, probably by that time, and there's no other option. I think the party also took pictures at the top of the officialdom committee and finished it with strategic nominations. So let me tell you that's the case.

The same goes for general elections, for example. If people let me know because they said they liked it, I just passed it to the Talent Recruitment Committee. You can tell them to nominate someone. It's not an external pressure, it's an opinion. However, in the past, it doesn't mean that the president can talk about it. However, when I was a transition team member and the president-elect, I didn't have enough time to deal with the nomination issue. Moreover, it is said to be the day before the inauguration, but in my memory on the eve of the inauguration, I think I only did it all day long to respond to diplomatic envoys coming to the inauguration. I'm telling you everything honestly.

And a dozen national industrial complexes, including Changwon Industrial Complex, are my presidential election pledges. And the designation of this industrial complex is all open and proceeding, not in secret. We accept applications. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy are working together to make a committee and proceed with it, and each local government that is trying to respond to it actively releases data. If the committee made a decision, I will be briefed on whether the decision has been made, and as soon as the president receives it, I release it to the media.

It's not like I have to adjust it again and stamp the last seal, but this procedure itself is like a trial. If the members receive this and make a decision, I can't see and know what's in the media, so I reported it to the president. Then, it's probably released to the media immediately, and I can't even call someone and say, "It's okay." So I think you can think of it that way.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Choi Ji-sook of Yonhap News TV.

[Reporter]
I'm Choi Ji-sook of Yonhap News TV. Except for the stock price manipulation or the suspicion of receiving luxury bags, the suspicions that have been raised recently seem to be directly linked to whether or not you were involved in state affairs. I'd like to ask you about your position on personnel intervention and election intervention. In this regard, there have also recently been voices calling for a complete suspension of external activities, including diplomatic schedules, and I would like to ask you about your position on this.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
The question is a little unclear. So, if I summarize what you asked, it's the external schedule at the end, right? a matter of external activities

[Reporter]
What I asked you about your position on your demand to stop external activities and what you asked earlier was your position on the suspicion of intervention in state affairs.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Wouldn't the First Lady have a position to hold elections with the President and help the President with the President? Of course not public officials, for example, there is a rumor that the president is scolding his aides a lot at meetings these days, but you should be gentle. That can't be called state involvement. In the past, we have to talk about the president to the wives of past presidents, but the president won't scold and fight at home even what he doesn't want to hear by circumventing things that are difficult to do in front of him, so there may be some things like that.

But if the president's wife helps the president and hopes to do well in elections and state affairs without being criticized by others, I think we should reorganize the Korean dictionary. However, since I became the prosecutor general, my wife has been targeting me, but anyway, my wife has made things that are basic and not so much and has demonized my wife a lot by targeting me. However, we have to cover up clearly and I don't mean that my wife did a good job, but I think it's unconditionally wrong to worry the people like this.

I'm not saying that I did a good job because our reporter is asking about a fact, but I've always worked with a very clear construction as a tenet since I've been in public office for a long time. Anyone should follow the line and do it, and of course, there should be direct reports. I need direct information in terms of seeing if the existing organization works well, but I've never accepted it when it comes to working without following a system. And as for external activities, in the end, all external activities are viewed by the people, so I think the people should do it if they like it and not if the people don't like it. So, I have virtually stopped it, except for my staff and I, who have fully considered the current public opinion and judged that it must be done in diplomatic practice and in the national interest activities. And we will continue this trend in the future. Is there anything else you're lacking, reporter Choi?

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. JoongAng Ilbo reporter Heo Jin, please.

[Reporter]
How are you? I'm Heo Jin from JoongAng Ilbo. In my interview with Han Dong-hoon, the representative of People's Power, I understand that the so-called Kim Gun-hee line was mentioned as the Hannam-dong 7-member association or 8-member association, and I understand that representative Han even called for personnel action against them. Does the president think that they really are? And if so, what measures are you considering against them?

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Since everything I said to CEO Han Dong-hoon has already been revealed, I wonder if I need to give more details, but since reporter Heo asked another question, the word Kim Gun-hee line sounds very negative. Also, the president's wife said that in the past, Mrs. Yuk Young-soo served as an opposition party to Cheong Wa Dae so that she could do well in politics by listening to the people's will anyway. I think manipulating such advice as a wife to the president is really not right for our political and cultural aspects and our culture.

And that's what I did. He said he would investigate and take action against high-ranking officials if he did not do his job and talked about things about working-level officials. Indeed, even after the inauguration of the government in Yongsan, a huge number of members here have been taken action in relation to that. Also, since I've been working at this kind of agency for a long time, this organization that I direct works without this kind of system, and he neglects himself and interferes with other people's affairs. And when I need to report to the administrator or secretary, I get it myself.Ma tells me about things that are not his business, and he scolds me and steps on the system, so I'm telling him to do it again. Another question... Wasn't there a lot of questions before? Of course, it's hard to work with. That's right.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. TV Chosun reporter Kim Jung-ho, please.

[Reporter]
I'm Kim Jung-ho from TV Chosun. I'd like to ask you one more question about you. already refraining from external activities.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
As I said earlier, when I or my key aides judge, this should be done in relation to the national interest. It means that we have actually stopped what we are not doing and will continue to stop.

[Reporter]
Thank you. In fact, I think you've already promised to be faithful to your inner circle during the presidential election, and you can see it as an extension of that. Looking back, most of the seven-hour phone calls with a YouTuber during the presidential election, conversations with suspicious religious people, and the so-called Myung Tae-kyun case have been controversial in terms of personal and private contacts, rather than from outside activities. You said that these unofficial activities were a little inappropriate or inconsiderate. Please tell me what to do to be cautious in the future. Please tell me if this is connected to the second attachment.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
I think we will have to fight a lot in the future. It's an external activity. You can do it through the second annex, and in a way, it's a little naive. I'm not making this excuse because I'm my wife, but I'm trying to strictly cover up my mistakes based on understanding this as a whole. Like that. Since I'm going to increase my time today, I won't do it for a short time and I'll say something I want to say. My mobile phone number was released after I made a political declaration at the end of July 2021 and a month later, when the application was released to the media to join the People's Power and give the application to Kwon Young-se, chairman of the Human Resources Recruitment Committee.

On that day alone, I got about 3,000 text messages. And even after that, I think Kakao Talk and telecommunication just came in. I think people are coming in even if the name isn't saved. So, I met people all day long and walked around and fell down after coming home, and when I woke up in the morning, it was 5 or 6 o'clock, but I stayed up and lied on my stomach and kept answering. So I asked him, "Are you crazy? What are you doing not sleeping?" No, there are people who support you like this. You have to answer, "Thank you, I will take good care of you." These people are all voters, and I don't think there is such a campaign that seems to answer them voluntarily, and I did it because I didn't sleep and the day and night changed completely.

Among them, there were people who started saying, "I've never been the power of the people until now." But one episode is that when I travel around the country every time I have a TV debate in the primary, a lot of supporters come and do it, and from then on until the end of the presidential election, he was very enthusiastic about it. There are quite a few people like that. So in a way, it has changed a lot into a friendly force. However, I think this problem has arisen because I have the feeling that if I get help from someone, I can't cut off my relationship even if I say a word and say thank you. I don't think I thought at the time that something like this would be indiscriminately revealed to the media like this, but this is all my responsibility.

Because we have to change the way we communicate a little bit, but we have to change our way of communication by being a candidate and an elected president. Even if I became president, I heard a lot of people telling me to change it unconditionally because I keep using the cell phone I used during the prosecution. Of course, I also have my own security phone. So when there is a problem with eavesdropping or national security, I use a security phone, but I just use a normal one. I use my cell phone with government officials and ministers unless it's a big problem with national security or something like that. But I still get a lot of text messages on my cell phone and my cell phone. But I read it when I have time. Sometimes when I'm busy, I just tell them to erase everything, but on weekends, if you read it, there are people who are very humiliated about me, and get a grip. But I see it as an indicator of public opinion that has not been refined. But even now, there are a lot of people telling me to get rid of my cell phone.

But I don't know this, it's a number I've been using for a long time, so I'm sure it's a waste, but in fact, my wife had to change her cell phone, too. And you have to do it through someone else. In the past, when I was in public office, I got a phone call from the president.My staff is calling me. If you come and see the restrictions on the destination mark between what time and what time, you can find out on the president's phone. That's how I waited with my cell phone and answered it when it came, but I didn't do that because the former president and his wife did it according to those protocols in the past to prevent such negative and inappropriate accidents that could worry the public, and I can't tell them that if I change my number, even if I say so, even people close to me can tell me it's this number, right?

That's why the people around me are also people, so I'm not just saying that I'm a friend of mine, but people who I haven't seen for a long time also send me outspoken stories, but I don't do that because it helps me to listen to public opinion. So, I need to change all these things about my wife in advance according to the protocol of the former president, and I was supposed to do that, but I couldn't do it myself, so when I went to the root of the cause of these problems, it was me, and the chief of staff and the chief of security told me since the beginning of his term.Ma, but I thought that I should immediately and vividly see the various stories that come in with this.

And for example, when some first-time members of the party call me, I answer it right away. So what's going on? Please give us some time. Then, if I don't have a schedule in the evening, I say, "Come to me then." But lawmakers have never seen a president like this before. Originally, if you want to do it, you can set a date in advance through the chief of staff and the senior secretary for political affairs according to the procedure. It's impossible to talk to the president directly, but I think there will be a lot of people who have talked to me on the phone if I ask them to raise their hands. Also, there are a lot of people who exchanged messages with each other through Telegram or text messages. However, I did this because I thought it had both risks and advantages, but anyway, I will take measures to reduce these risks and prevent the people from worrying and upsetting about this anyway. Thank you, and for your good question.

[Jeong Hye-jeon / Spokesperson]
It would be nice if you could also tell me the issue of the second annex among the one question.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Today, the second deputy director was appointed. The second deputy manager will probably hire all the employees he will work with in a short period of time, and the second office is almost finished construction, right? Yes. That's because I can work right away as long as I hire an employee. Now that our activities have decreased a lot, we have letters from all over the place, and what to do with the president's wife, and we actually did it in the presidential office, but the presidential office is also very busy, so anyway, I think that the risk can be reduced if we do those things well.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Lee Seung-joon of Hankyoreh.

[Reporter]
I'm reporter Lee Seung-joon of Hankyoreh newspaper. Let me ask you the next question. Criticism of the collapse of the fairness and common sense put forward by the Yoon Suk Yeol government is a number of criticisms related to the prosecution's indictment in the case of receiving luxury bags, followed by the alleged manipulation of Deutsche Motors' stock price. I would like to ask what you think about the criticism that the prosecution's investigation is insufficient or a favoring investigation, and whether you will exercise your right to request reconsideration on the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act, which the opposition party is trying to pass.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
It's the same when you're the president and you're the prosecutor general. No matter how painful your heart is, I don't think it's possible to give preferential treatment to your family and things around you because it's breaking the national law. If you can't do that, I think you should quit the president and the prosecutor general. But I'll talk a little bit longer today about the special prosecutor's issue. Basically, there is no country where the National Assembly decides Mani and the National Assembly appoints a de facto independent counsel and sets up a vast investigation team. Because it clearly violates the separation of powers of liberal democracies.

It is a unique part of administrative power, which is the essence of the constitution's basic separation of powers, no matter how much the law states that the investigative power will be exercised and which prosecutor the case will be assigned to. So in the United States, when the allegations against the president come out very specifically and the president tells the people that this should be done through investigation, the attorney general appoints a special prosecutor. Appoints a separate special prosecutor without being stipulated by general federal law. And in the past, in the case of Iranian contra cases, what is called the Special Prosecutor Act by the U.S. Congress, is actually a provision of the Public Service Ethics Act. In that case, if the National Assembly decides whether or not to investigate this as a special prosecutor, the Minister of Justice will decide whether or not to appoint it.

And in that case, if the attorney general decides, the attorney general does not appoint a special prosecutor, but instead the prosecutor is appointed by the federal high court in Washington. However, the law continued to fall into controversy over the separation of powers for more than 10 years, and the law was eventually extinguished. The reason is why a judge appoints a prosecutor to be in charge of the investigation. This does not fit the separation of powers. Basically, when this was introduced in Korea, the special prosecutor's office was probably the first to induce a strike in the clothing lobby during the Kim Dae Jung presidency. There was also a lot of controversy over the unconstitutionality at that time, but if the president and the ruling party say okay, this was done because they thought they could do it as the Minister of Justice accepted in the past.

Therefore, the appointment of an independent counsel against the president and the ruling party is basically an idea against the constitution because that means that it can be done by law. And second, we've already put in hundreds of investigators for over two years, and during the last government, when investigating their own people, we continued to investigate a lot of people, saying that this was illegal and that investigation was illegal. Because we investigated until Kim Gun-hee came out and Kim Gun-hee's indictment was made.

But you haven't been charged, have you? There's a problem with that, creating an investigation team of such a large scale again. It's just a rumor to do something in addition to that, and there's no objective basis for it to be made up by themselves. In that way, there is no precedent of becoming a special prosecutor, and basically, if the prosecution investigates and says there is any suspicion, if the prosecution fails to properly investigate the suspicion and there is a problem with the investigation, it is hard to know if the prosecution conducts a special prosecution on that point. So, this itself is really the work of the special prosecutor as well as judicial work. But it's not judicial action, it's political instigation.

And in the past, hundreds of people were probably investigated endlessly and some of them were prosecuted, but then if you ask me to investigate again, I'm not just investigating my wife, am I? We need to reinvestigate these people, but no matter how much double jeopardy it only affects those who have judicial power, we usually apply the de facto double jeopardy to investigations and prosecution work. I don't repeat it. So, the fact that the special prosecution is conducted with this kind of thing itself is a human rights violation for other people.

There is a saying that under our constitutional system, which places the ultimate responsibility on the president to protect the constitution, of course, the ultimate force to protect the constitution is the people's right to resist, but if the president accepts it within the framework of the constitutional system, this will be repeated in the future. I have already told you many times that if this happens again, it will result in the use of the name of political justice and bringing a sword to politics when necessary. If my wife committed any wrongdoing or illegality, I love her no matter how much she does, but if my status is allowed to defend me, I should also defend her. But if I'm the prosecutor general or president, I can't do that. Let me reiterate that this is absolutely not a matter of love and defense for his wife.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Jeong Jae-hoon of the Yeungnam Ilbo.

[Reporter]
How are you? I'm Jung Jae-hoon, a reporter for the Yeungnam Ilbo. I'd like to ask you a question about your approval rating. Recent opinion polls continue to show that the 20% range has collapsed for the first time since taking office, and that they are continuously renewing their lows. In addition, there are criticisms that traditional conservative supporters are leaving, including Daegu and Gyeongbuk. In fact, the president once expressed that he would not be happy with his approval rating or that he would be hit by a stone, but now I wonder what he thinks about this and what measures he has in mind to raise his approval rating.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Can a soccer player or a baseball player exercise after watching the electronic display? Since the election, he has continued to say that he should only look at the ball and hit the ball without looking at the electronic display. I haven't changed my mind. But now, I'm getting ripped off a lot through our staff when it comes to approval ratings. Someone said that. There was a column that said, "You give me a press story, but now look at the electronic display and run." I'm not saying it's all a disgrace, especially when I see the decline in approval ratings in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, and I'm sitting here as a presidential candidate and president, but I think the absolute support of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province made me do this. I always have that thought. So I'm thinking about how much I've saved and how disappointed I'll be.

Anyway, with a plan to raise the approval rating, public opinion, I don't know how to use such tricks and I don't think they fit my constitution. Don't you have to work with more flexibility and changes? And there's something like this. If other people keep saying things because you're not good at it, whether it's opposition or whatever, you're not going to hear that. Regardless of whether your child is right or wrong when he goes out and gets scolded, why do you always get scolded? I think there's something that I'm trying to do well in the future.

Anyway, since I showed the people these changes, innovations, and more competent sides, and the Yeongnam Ilbo said this, I think that the people in Daegu and Gyeongbuk should do well so that the people as a whole don't get upset. I think this is kind of strong. For example, the four major reforms, the four-plus-one reforms, then the reforms, are strong resistance because there are people who go against their own interests when they pursue the reforms. Then, I will push it hard, and I will push it with this will like iron, whereas in the medical community, if I were a patient with the medical community, I would say that it is a little uncomfortable in terms of patients, please use the trick.

So, I think it's because if the front part of what needs to be pushed forward and what needs to be done while taking a good look at the inconvenience and upset of the people is revealed, I feel bad and upset, and things around me keep getting controversial. Anyway, I will distinguish these things well, and for the future generations of our country, I will try to cover up the parts that need to go while fighting hard and minimizing the inconvenience of the people's hearts. Then wouldn't it get better?

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Cho Hyung-min of Channel A, please.

[Reporter]
Mr. President, how are you? I'm Cho Hyung-min from Channel A. I'm cautious because it's somewhat human, but I'll ask you a question because you seem to be determined and talking today. My question, about the conflict between the party and the government. The issue of conflict between the president and representative Han Dong-hoon is still penetrating politics this year. There are also concerns that it could lose the momentum of state administration as it spreads to the division of the ruling camp from the opposition camp. I know that there are many analyses that the nature of this conflict is a matter of personal feelings and resentment. It can also be heard in politics that the president felt a sense of human betrayal. I'm curious about the president's position on the view that it's a conflict with a representative arising from emotions. I'd like to ask you if you really want to resolve the conflict between the two of you first.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
If you say this in media interviews, your approval rating may fall further, but isn't the media continuing to incite conflict? Here's what I think. The important thing is to always go to the beginning. We should leave the simple matter of the party and the government and go back to the beginning when we have any problems within the company or when we have any problems in our friendship. So, the relationship between the government and the party will improve if we work hard together to become the most capable government and the most capable and quickest party that can work best for the people at the time. It will get better. I think. If we just meet and talk, we keep spinning. In any case, if the government, the presidential office, and the party continue to work head-to-head for the benefit of the people, shouldn't we meet often again? Then, through our reason for existence, our hard work, and our hard work for the people, if we go now, the problem is solved because it's first, first, second, first. And politicians, it's been a little over three years since I came to politics in 2021. If you play politics for a long time, there's always resentment. There's no such thing as people who've been a lawmaker many times that they really die without him. Because I've encountered everything in any case. However, there are things I have to do while working on politics for a long time, so I thought lawmaker A and lawmaker B were close, but if you listen closely, there were things we were disappointed about in the past.

However, as we work together as members of the same party, such things are solved and we go like this. So, instead of doing politics with personal feelings, we work together and find common and common tasks and when we say common political interests, it becomes a powerful adhesive when we pursue them. And I've been making dinner and communication with our party members and party officials, but I couldn't because I was busy because of the parliamentary audit, but now that the parliamentary inspection is over, I'm trying to continue this meeting and make more comfortable communication with the party faster. Please help the media a lot, too. Our reporter Cho Hyung-min. Did he leave? Yes.

[Jeong Hye-jeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Cho Byung-wook of the Segye Ilbo.

[Reporter]
I'm reporter Cho Byung-wook of the Segye Ilbo. I'd like to ask you something about the National Assembly. The president took the oath of office at the National Assembly, and it was impressive to hear a lot of these expressions that the president is the guardian of the Constitution. However, looking at Article 81 of the Constitution, the President seems to have the right and obligation to go to the National Assembly to speak, but the President did not attend the opening ceremony of the 22nd National Assembly and the corrective speech on next year's budget. So I wonder why you did that. If there is a next opportunity, I would like to ask if you will go to the National Assembly together.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
I'm a person who really wants to go to the National Assembly. And I really want to go next year. However, in his first year in office, he did not enter the plenary session while picketing at the Rotender Hall in a party that makes up more seats in the National Assembly, in front of less than half of the lawmakers. Of course, I received a lot of applause.I was wondering if this wasn't right, but the second time everyone came in, I asked them to come and they were sitting around and I just had to clap once or twice. That's basic, they refused to shake hands and booed me. Why are you here? Even people like this... But I don't think this is right.

Nevertheless, the president is not obligated to go to the National Assembly, but he has a right to speak. And the president's going to the National Assembly is to show the people that he does basic protocol for one day, no matter how much politics fight, but I don't know if it's helpful for the National Assembly to show the people that the president goes to such a mess. I also thought of the National Assembly in that respect. Take a look at this year, too. Impeachment of a public official appointed by the president to the special prosecution is usually done to people who are very serious crimes.

It's an exceptional clause and look at which countries in the world. The United States does not have a constitutional court, and the Senate decides when the House of Representatives submits an impeachment motion and prosecutes the impeachment. There have been countless U.S. presidents, but none have been impeached. So, everything is very exceptional, but the investigation into the special prosecution law has already been done countless times, and the fact that the special prosecution law is repeated over and over again like that, so they just put up rumors that they put out.


and the excessive number of orders to accompany them, so this is what I think. This means not to come to the National Assembly. That's why I didn't go. In a way, I respect the National Assembly, and the president and the National Assembly just listen to the president's story even if it's just that time. So, for example, when I wrote a speech or something like this, I did it both times by saying thank you without adding anything that could really provoke the opposition party or offend the opposition party. Then we should be polite to each other at that moment, and the opposition party should be polite. In fact, I was preparing to go this time, but the prime minister didn't read it. Anyway, the prime minister said most of what I prepared, but I heard that the Yoon Suk Yeol told me to come.

However, if the president asks you to come to the National Assembly while doing this, the president should also humiliate yourself, so come and kneel down in front of the public and humiliate yourself. This is not to save politics, but to kill politics. I hate it until I get to the National Assembly, but I will also talk about respecting the opposition party in my speech, and even if the opposition party hates me politically and I campaigned to step down until yesterday, I want to go at least 10 times if I keep that time.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
Journalists are very interested in the field of political issues right now. Excluding the conversation, the press conference alone was well over an hour. Considering the turbulent global situation and security situation, the public will also be interested in the field of foreign affairs and security. Let's move on to the question in the area of foreign affairs and security. Once again, I will give you another opportunity to ask questions about political issues that you feel are lacking in the last free question session. Raise your hand if you want questions in the field of foreign affairs and security. Reporter Kim Sa-ra of the Central Daily.

[Reporter]
How are you? I'm Kim Sa-ra from Central Daily. You had your first call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the morning, and I will ask you more specifically what you discussed. And in particular, I would like to ask if you had more consensus on the Korea-U.S. alliance or the North Korean nuclear issue, and if you would like the timing or format of the first meeting.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
I talked on the phone for about 10 minutes around 8 a.m. Of course, let's congratulate him first. And anyway, there was talk of strong solidarity and partnership based on the Korea-U.S. alliance in the Asia-Pacific and global region. And he first talked about whether you were interested in North Korea rather than just talking about North Korea. That's why I sent the filth and garbage balloons 7,000 times. It's causing a lot of damage to the people. GPS jamming, SLBMs such as ICBMs and IRBMs, and they're shooting these things at random. I can't believe it. What are you going to do about this? So we decided to meet in the near future and talk about a lot of information and plans.

Of course, North Korea's nuclear weapons are also used as missiles, so ICBMs and SLBMs are all about nuclear weapons. And the U.S. shipbuilding industry has declined a lot, not limited to the military, as Korean shipbuilders are aware of the repair of U.S. naval ships. Anyway, cooperation with Korea is very important. That's why we're actively participating in this because it's for the economy and security of the United States.

Today, I gave a lot of good words. And we talked a little about Korea, the U.S. and Japan. During the Trump presidency, the structure of corporate cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan was well structured. There is Senator Hagerty, a very close ally of President Trump, and not long ago, Senator Hagerty and I served dinner in Sangchunjae because we came to Korea with five Republicans and two Democrats, seven senators. However, Senator Hagerty created a well-organized corporate cooperation structure between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan while serving as ambassador to Japan, which also led to economic and security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, and helped to achieve global leadership anyway.

So you have to say something very positive about this. I think the three-way cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan will proceed well during the Trump administration. Anyway, we only talked about meeting each other as soon as possible. In our time, the results of yesterday's election were confirmed in the evening, and we probably celebrated with campers and acquaintances in Florida, and it was early in the morning in the U.S., so I slept and called a few countries right away. Anyway, I couldn't do it for long today. I did it for about 12 minutes. But I think we'll see each other again in the near future.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Foreign correspondents are also here. Washington Post reporter Michelle Lee, please.

[Reporter]
Hello, I'm Michelle Lee from The Washington Post. I'll give you questions in English. Mr President, let me ask you a question about President-elect Trump of the United States. President-elect Trump is a person who values personal ties, so it is famous that the US-Japan alliance was well managed through his friendship with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the past. And while he knows Kim Jong-un well, he doesn't know much about the president yet, and as we understand it, he's a completely different person from President Trump and President Biden. In addition, I understand that he does not like prosecutors and such people very much and has a skeptical view of the alliance. As for Korea, I once mentioned that it is necessary to share more sufficient defense costs and that Korea is a machine that prints money. In this situation, I would like to ask you how you will build your friendship with President-elect Trump and how you will manage your relationship in such a difficult time.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
There are a lot of people close to President Trump, like Senator Hagerty, I mentioned earlier, Governor Burgum, or All-Brian and former Secretary Pompeo. They came to Yongsan several times, and when I go to multilateral meetings, the U.S. lawmakers come to multilateral meetings and have meetings with the leaders of other countries, so I have a lot of relationships with many U.S. lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties. I don't know what they're looking at, but President Yoon and Trump will have a good chemistry for a long time. So, as the Washington Post reporter said earlier, I was a prosecutor, and I think I'm talking about the fact that I became the president because I was in politics for the first time.

People who served as high-ranking officials in the administration under President Trump in the past, and the top and bottom influential members of the Republican Party have long said that I have a good relationship with them, and that they will tie up their relationship with President Trump well. So I think I can do it well without any problems. Since the days when President Trump was highly likely to be elected yesterday, you have to give them a phone number so that they can call President Trump to some extent in Korea, and give them a number they can call. So around the afternoon yesterday, people who I know well made such requests. That's how he sent me his phone number.

And I've said this a lot before. Aren't these policies that President Trump is talking about very unfavorable to our companies? I'm so worried. Don't worry if you say this. He also continued to talk about things like that because he would do well so that it wouldn't hurt Korean companies much anyway. Of course, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy have been preparing issues that may arise in relation to finance, trade, and industrial competitiveness for a long time. I don't know if it's explained.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Do Byung-wook of Hankyung.

[Reporter]
How are you? Mr. President, this is Do Byung-wook from the Korea Economic Daily. I'll also ask you a question about the U.S. presidential election. You just explained a little bit. During his campaign, former President Trump has repeatedly said he would raise tariffs on all imported products by 10% or 20%. He said he would repeal the IRA and the Chips Act. The possibility of renegotiating the Korea-U.S. FTA is also being discussed. Uncertainty in the external environment is added in a situation where the economy is already in a difficult situation. Please answer to the President whether the government has a response plan and what our government's strategy is.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
The answer to question A is B, which is very difficult to explain artificially. When I go on an overseas trip to a multilateral meeting or bilateral meeting, is Korea ready to ask the leaders of many countries when they have bilateral meetings with me or have dinner separately? We are really worried because if Trump becomes president, policy will change too much. Europe is especially bad. There are also many leaders in Asia who are worried. Some Asian countries say that Korea is an alliance with the United States, so isn't it better because it is an alliance with the United States? That's how they ask us. Because South Korea still has a strong global comprehensive alliance with the United States, the best diplomatic relationship is the global comprehensive strategic alliance. That's because it's Korea and the United States. But if you look at our exports in the past, there were more exports to China than to the United States. However, more than 50% of exports to China should be viewed as exports to the United States.

Because most of the exports to China go to the United States about why finished products go to the United States, is it direct exports to the United States, so-called indirect exports of cushions like this? After all, the U.S. market is absolute, whether it's China or Korea. However, if you do a universal tariff of 10-20%, it's the same in any country, but it's less competitive with U.S. companies, but there's no big one anyway. If a special super tariff is imposed on China, the Chinese economy will probably become very difficult, and even if China's labor costs are low now, it has risen to some extent. China has also lowered its export unit price, making it difficult for Korean companies to do this at a high price in order to compete with China in the international market. That's what happens to semiconductors right now.

HBM or high specifications like this are okay. The price is also high. However, when it comes to 50-nano or 70-nano semiconductors used in automobiles, China is also good at making them. But a lot of those things are also exported. However, if super tariffs are attached to 60% of the time, it will be dumping in the international market even if it competes with us. Then, the indirect effect of not selling goods is more problematic. Pay more directly in SMA negotiations, this is important, but it's secondary for now. Now our economic growth, our exports. Since we are a country with a high degree of dependence on foreign countries, we have to earn a lot of money from exports anyway. Whether it's direct exports or indirect domestic demand supporting export companies, we have to earn money from exports anyway. Anyway, those risks are not the same as they were during the Biden administration, but we are making various efforts to minimize our damage and the loss of our national economy.

It's already been a long time since we're ready to cancel the risk. And you have to actually meet them in person. We need to see the president-elect, but we actually have aides, people who specifically establish and push for actual policies, and what other policies are, and what's important is the priority. No matter how disadvantageous this is for us, we have to do this a little later and respond to this first, so the administration is busy now.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Catherine Bartin of AFP.

[Reporter]
Mr President, I would like to inquire about the possibility of Korea's direct arms aid to Ukraine. North Korea has sent a large number of troops to Russia without taking such action at the moment. In this situation, some say that it is not appropriate in light of the help Korea received during the Korean War, so what do you think?

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
That's right. Since we received a lot of help from the international community when we were in trouble, I think it is natural for us to help a country that has suffered from such illegal foreign aggression. From the standpoint of our foreign policy, internationalism, pacifism, and humanitarianism, we need to help with what we can do, so in that sense, we focused on humanitarian and economic support. However, the variable North Korea began to come in. Now, in the case of Ukraine, the necessary weapons are just coming in from the United States and the EU.

But I also need a lot of money. Because the finances are not good, I have to pay the soldiers' salaries. It also needs a lot of money because it has to go back to the public officials' salaries. So I would like to say that we have mainly provided necessary drugs, supplies, and funds in that respect.

However, there are two variables called North Korea, and since North Korea is not doing it by proudly presenting to Russia that it is North Korea, but because it is a mercenary that enters in disguise, there may be a transfer of sensitive military technology from Russia that could very fatally threaten our security. And unlike us, North Korea doesn't have much hands-on experience.

There are rumors that they sent him as a mercenary to one war or another.Ma can be said to be a practical experience in terms of the operational system and such when a large-scale army goes, but we sent troops to the Vietnam War for 10 years anyway, so we went through the actual battle at the scene where bullets flew. So that's a great strength for our county. Of course, the guerrilla-style special forces are strong in North Korea, but it is also important to have the ability to conduct regular operations with infantry in the event of war. There is a limit to such guerrilla warfare that disturbs the rear. Anyway, in that sense, we have a lot of hands-on experience and we have actually experienced the battlefield in PKO, Iraq, and so on.

However, since this is the first time North Korea has ever experienced it, and special forces are trained people, it may cause a lot of damage due to the inability to adapt to the field at first, but over time, if we gain experience in modern warfare, this can be a fatal problem for our security, so we will now change the way we support it step by step from the same perspective of humanitarian and pacifist as before, depending on the North Korean military's involvement. That's why we don't rule out weapons support. I think we need to see more of the situation in the future. If we provide weapons support, we are considering defensive weapons first anyway.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Mikihiko Ueno of the Tokyo Shimbun, please.

[Reporter]
Good morning, Mr. President. I'm reporter Ueno of the Tokyo Shimbun. Prime Minister Ishiba became the new prime minister in Japan a month ago after becoming Trump's president-elect in the U.S. yesterday. I would like to ask you what kind of security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will form with the two leaders in the future. In addition, next year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan. I would appreciate it if you could explain what kind of relationship you will make in Korea-Japan relations in the future.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Just because the administration of the United States changes now does not mean that everything will change 100%, and the security cooperation issue between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan is working well now. In addition, since we are also conducting joint military training, practical training is very important for joint military training. If you do practical training, I think you will be able to use various weapons systems yourself and share a lot of information in the military information part, and maintain it well. In all aspects such as military security, economic security, industry, and joint assistance in foreign policy, President Trump started the business first, and President Biden led Camp David last year in line with our normalization of Korea-Japan relations, so I think that will be maintained.

And President Trump tried to denuclearize North Korea's nuclear advancement, but in a way, he was very disappointed. In addition, nuclear technologies are improving day by day in North Korea, such as how much warheads will be loaded and sent, and how much explosive power will be created in the warheads, not just flying and exploding. So, I think he will receive the security briefing first not long after Trump's presidency. Perhaps not only the war situation in various international communities, but also the degree to which North Korea's nuclear technology and capabilities have changed in the meantime in relation to the denuclearization of North Korea, which he promoted during his presidency. Also, reconnaissance satellites and things like this are directly connected to ICBM technology, so I think we will receive reports on these things in a short time.

So, after receiving the report, I think we can have more meaningful in-depth discussions if we have the opportunity to do so, whether it's with Prime Minister Ishiba or the three of us. And next year is the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan, and there is an Osaka Expo in Japan. Therefore, Korean residents in Japan are also expecting Korea-Japan relations to leap to a new blueprint next year, and above all, I think that the normalization of relations between Korea and Japan creates conditions that businessmen in both countries can truly feel, which is very helpful between companies. So next year, the public and private sectors will join forces to create a new blueprint so that the relationship between Korea and Japan can be more helpful to the lives of the people.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
This concludes the questions in the field of foreign affairs and security. We will quickly receive questions in the field of reform and economy and society. If you want a question, please raise your hand. Reporter Woo Jae-yoon of Maekyung, please.

[Reporter]
Good morning, Mr. President. I'm Jaeyoon Woo of Maeil Economy. You emphasized the four major reforms earlier, but the realistic constraints of Yeosoya University are very large. Some point out that persuasion by the opposition party is essential, but this has been insufficient so far. I wonder if you have a plan to launch a ruling-opposition-government consultative body to promote the four major reforms or meet with representative Lee Jae-myung to persuade him.

Let me ask you a question about the second urgent medical reform. Most medical professions still seem unwilling to talk to the government. The justification for medical reform is recognized by many people, but the prolonged vacuum is causing public inconvenience, and I wonder if you have a plan for it.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
It's not easy.Ma has been pushing for things that can be done first, and things that can be done without changing the law. Perhaps within the year, if a doctor who operated on essential medical care is not compensated more than a doctor who gave simple treatment, then it is difficult for essential medical care to gather medical talents there properly, so improvement of the compensation system for essential medical care. And by combining such issues as the loss insurance system, which causes waste of medical resources, we promote such problems very quickly. Another thing is that doctors are very sensitive to judicial risks when doing surgery or doing first aid.

Anyway, by designing a liability insurance system and mitigating judicial risks, the victims should stick together with lawyers on both sides to solve the problem, the patient's family should do their job as the patient's family, and the doctor should treat the patient as they want. If doctors are distracted from responding to judicial risks, they cannot treat other patients and shrink to see patients, so those parts are going out at a pace to strengthen essential medical care and local medical care anyway.

And the 2025 SAT is on the 14th, and next year's medical school quota is as promoted by the Korean government, and in the future, we asked the medical community and the consultative body to give an opinion, so we can discuss it together and go accordingly. So, the issue of medical reform is also being promoted at a very rapid pace. And discussions proceed through the ruling and opposition parties, and if there is anything else to meet, we should meet. So let's see how it goes. You have to do that.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Kim Hak-jae of Financial News.

[Reporter]
Mr. President, this is Kim Hak-jae from Financial News. In the first half of his term, he managed prices in the 1% range, and exports continued to increase and are renewing all-time, and many say that he has a stable economy. However, the growth rate in the third quarter was lower than expected, so it came out as 0.1% and the retail sales index continued to fall in domestic demand. After the U.S. presidential election, the external conditions will be tough due to the overlapping U.S. priority. I would like to ask if there is a direction you are planning to revitalize the domestic economy or increase the economic growth rate.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
0.1% Q3 That's based on Q2. There are a lot of first quarters and quite a lot of second quarters, so if the third quarter comes out like that, we will be huge this year. You can look at the third quarter as an adjustment. Korea's potential growth rate, that is, the growth rate that we can raise when we put all of our overall social resources into it, is about 2.0% now. So if you can't do better than that, it's difficult, and if you go up higher than that, you're more invested. If we calculate everything by the end of this year, I think the potential growth rate of 2.0% can be sufficiently higher. I talked about exporting semiconductors earlier. In the so-called mid- to low-end market, China's economy needs to be good so that the people can enjoy a little more warmth from exports. I'll do my best with the problem.

And to boost domestic demand, there are various things like finance that directly helps self-employed people and small business owners, and various subsidies for electricity bills and delivery costs, but we sold Onnuri gift certificates more than three times as much as last year this Chuseok. The government has to pay 10% of the money, and even if it uses more of that, it will make the people's livelihoods of self-employed people, small business owners, and their people's livelihoods warm. This is exactly what we're making money for now.

Semiconductors, automobiles, and defense power plants. And shipbuilding. In the past, petrochemicals were our four major exports, but now they are not. So, representatively, what we live by is semiconductors and automobiles. There are electric cars and regular cars, so batteries are worn. Automobiles, semiconductors, defense and nuclear power plants are behind it. You can think of it like that. I'll work harder. Yesterday, we also won a 20-trillion-dollar nuclear power plant in Bulgaria. We will try to increase exports further and make ways to boost domestic demand more forward-looking.


[Jeong Hye-jeon / Spokesperson]
So far, we have finished asking questions in the fields of political issues, foreign affairs and security, and economic and social affairs. From now on, we will have time to freely ask questions about pending issues. Please raise your hand if you have any questions you haven't been able to ask before. Reporter Cho Yong-sung of YTN.

[Reporter]
I'm YTN's Cho Yong Sung. I was impressed by the answer to the press conference you mentioned earlier. First of all, one of the elements of close and pro-yoon conflict in the ruling party is the special inspector, and I would like to hear from the president directly about the appointment of him.

And I'd like to ask you one more question when there's a chance. The president's office has fully explained every time there's something suspicious, but I'd like to ask you why you think there's a reason why only one out of every five people support the president.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
The special inspector system has been mentioned several times since the beginning of his term. If it is recommended by the National Assembly, it is probably two or more, and the president is supposed to appoint one person, but if the National Assembly recommends it, the president cannot appoint it, and of course, he will appoint it. So that's what I said from the beginning because it's a parliamentary job. Whether to appoint a director of the North Korean Human Rights Foundation or not, I will appoint one of them if I recommend a candidate within the people's power, the Democratic Party, and the people's power.

And I don't know if there's a close, close, friendly thing. Some distinguish it like this and others distinguish it like this. Things like that change from time to time. And if you can show that tendency, and then after that, there are different sides to different issues, and I don't see that as sensitive. I couldn't communicate with you during the audit. We're going to meet often and do that. As I said earlier, each other is creaking within the organization. Then it's good to exercise or go hiking together, but I think it will work out well if we work together. And aren't there too many things we need to do now?

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Lee Min-young of the Seoul Newspaper, please.

[Reporter]
Mr. President, this is Lee Min-young from the Seoul Newspaper. I'd like to ask you again about Mrs. Kim Gun-hee. The president apologized to everyone for the problems around him. I wonder if Mrs. Kim Gun-hee would like to apologize to the people in person. And while preparing for the press conference this time, I wonder if First Lady Kim Gun-hee has anything to say to the President.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Since my wife's election, I've been taking care of the relationship with people and the president, but I'm apologizing to the people first because I couldn't do that properly. And my wife originally went on a trip to have a press conference, so she said we should have a town hall meeting at a broadcasting station or something, but the announcement was made that it would be better to do it 10 days before the trip, so she goes home at night and apologizes properly if she saw the article. That's what I said.

In any case, he is intentionally demonizing himself, there is fake news, even if he makes it by force by using a needle stick, he probably has that unfairness, but he feels much more sorry for worrying and upsetting the people anyway. So he told me to apologize a lot instead of just talking about the results of the state administration just because it's the halfway point of his term. I don't know. This is also involved in state affairs, not manipulation. That's what I have in mind.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take the next question. Reporter Park Seok-ho of the Busan Ilbo, please.

[Reporter]
I'm reporter Park Seok-ho of the Busan Ilbo. You mentioned the apple a few times. It is often said that there are several requirements that must be met when apologizing. The most important thing among them is to clarify and specify which areas to apologize for. In his public address, the President caused concern and concern by what was going on around me. In a way, he apologized somewhat vaguely and comprehensively.

In addition, in a question-and-answer session, he said that the reason why this happened to Myung Tae-kyun was because he couldn't change his cell phone or because he couldn't talk about relationships. If so, it's as if you don't have to apologize, but you might misunderstand that you're apologizing because it's noisy outside.

So I think the people watching the conference on TV will be confused about what the president apologized to us for. Can you give me a supplementary explanation about this?

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Here's what I think. The people misunderstand is that if you have to explain the fact clearly and if you do something wrong, you pick it up and say, "Isn't it wrong?" I'll apologize for that fact. There are so many stories that I don't have time to carefully read all the articles about my wife.

It's because I only know that there are a lot of things like this. Pick something up... because there are many things that are different from the truth. Even so, I can't argue with the facts at the press conference after becoming president. Even so, I can't say that it's all right. So maybe a reporter from the Busan Ilbo might think so, but isn't this inevitable? And if you pick it up at a certain point, I apologize for that. And I said that it's not true.

But in fact, there are a lot of things that are misinformed. They say something between themselves, but they did it with something we've never talked about, or the Democratic Party revealed it to the media. What kind of squeezing is that, why did you put sound in it, then do we have to argue that the president is right or not with that? So, please understand that.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
Let's ask one last question. I'm sorry, but I'll also ask questions to the reporters.

[Reporter]
I'm Park Shin-bong of Kyunghyang Shinmun. I'd like to connect to your question and ask you a question. The president said that it was difficult to explain everything because there were various controversies, but he apologized earlier. So, please tell me in detail what the president can acknowledge, so that he can apologize accurately.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Isn't it a little hard to be specific? There are so many things going on in the media reports and things like that. But anyway, I apologize because this was wrong and the communication protocol between the president and his wife was not properly followed in the past. It's because I said unnecessary things and things I didn't have to say, so I apologized for that and the people were upset. For example, I'm sorry for intervening in the Changwon Industrial Complex that I mentioned earlier and letting Myung Tae-kyun know that it's not true.

If you expect such an apology, you can't admit it because it's different from the truth, and it's a plot. That's not a matter of apology. However, anyway, what has worried the people about this is that I will be more careful not to let this happen because there is a problem with me and my wife's behavior and all this.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
Many people raised their hands, but the president got a sore throat. Then I'll take a little more questions. Reporter Kim Yongjin of OBS.

[Reporter]
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to ask questions. I'm Kim Yongjin of OBS. I'd like to ask you another question for a moment. The first drilling related to the East Sea gas field, which the president himself briefed on, has been confirmed. There have been reports that drilling will begin within this year, and I wonder if I can expect a successful drilling.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
In the process of receiving reports from the Ministry of Industry, I have been briefed on drilling and success stories and probabilities for offshore oil fields and offshore gas fields around the world. What's really lucky is that there are some that came out at once, but there are very few. You have to do it several times. I'm also looking forward to starting drilling on the highest probability. However, did he say that it would cost about 100 billion won to make one budget? a senior economic secretary It's 100 billion won, right? Because if this happens, thousands of trillions of that will come out. And it's very likely in this water body. Let's all look forward to it. I can't guarantee that it'll be the first one.E. This will have a great impact on our economy and industry in the future, and I think it will be of great help to our future generations if we use it well.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
I'll take one last question. Reporter Park Joon-young of Daily Korea.

[Reporter]
How are you? I'm Park Junyoung of Daily Korea. I will ask you a question about the Czech nuclear power plant. Mr. President said that it is a business that will bring more vitality to our industry. KHNP has been selected as the preferred bidder, but suspicions seem to continue to emerge. In particular, despite several explanations, suspicions that the Czech nuclear power plant was awarded at a bargain price and promised unfair financial support do not seem to fade. I wonder if the Czech nuclear power plant order really helps the national interest and if you are guaranteeing the conclusion of the main contract.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
If it's a bargain to win two nuclear power plants for 24 trillion won, that's too ignorant. I'm not saying that I'm ignorant of our reporter, but I want to tell those people who say that. If you look into the international situation. And if you look at the construction of Korea that is still being built, the Baraka nuclear power plant in the UAE, and the ongoing nuclear power plant negotiations, 24 trillion won for two nuclear power plants is a bargain. Of course, the amount is not fixed.

Since they have this budget and are the preferred negotiators, there are probably a few contracts like this that the price, terms, and everything is a nuclear power plant contract. I don't know until March next year. First of all, it doesn't make sense to call 24 trillion won for two units at a bargain price.

And there is no excessive financial support or promise to provide little financial support. And the Czech Republic is not pushing this too hard on the size of its economy, but is it going to spend a lot of fixed costs on nuclear power plants to produce energy or buy gas or oil anyway. Because it's set this up, there can't be such excessive financial support.
It's a problem that needs to be done while negotiating specifically. And I think this contract will work out well.

Outside, people say that Westinghouse's intellectual property rights are holding back, but even if you try to export Westinghouse, KEPCO KHNP, and nuclear power plants, you need to get approval from the nuclear power technology holder. So the agreement between the US government and our government went well and the MOU was signed now. So what I ordered was that if the board of directors of KEPCO, KHNP, and Westinghouse signed it with OK, the government's name will go to the signature again.

And the Czech Republic wants us. As the Czech Republic is now asking the U.S. to do it properly, the authorities of both countries are asking the U.S. to negotiate in detail. This is not just for businesses, but for the government to always participate in the negotiations from behind. So I'm sure it'll work out well. Last time, I went to the Czech Republic in September and met with the president, the prime minister, and the ministers, and Korea's nuclear power technology was coming in. That's how they want to transfer a lot of technology. The Czech Republic is a great powerhouse when it comes to nuclear parts.

Turbines are the most important thing for nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants are steam units after all. It's not coal or oil or gas that produces steam, it's nuclear energy, and the mechanism that generates electricity is steam, and steam turbines and other mechanical engineering equipment have long been a technology powerhouse, so they want to get a technology transfer that they can make and export their own nuclear power plants, and Korea keeps the delivery date exactly anyway. We've never broken that. Whether it's delivering weapons from defense or nuclear power plants that we build and hand over the keys, there are countries that have just been over 10 years. No, if you don't deliver weapons on time, you have to quickly train and use them. It is also very competitive for Korea that we are a country that keeps exactly what we promised at the time of handing over the keys. So I think you can look forward to it.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
Many people raised their hands, but only the press conference except for the discourse was well over two hours.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
Let's ask one last foreign reporter.

[Reporter]
Thank you. Good morning, Mr. President. I'm a reporter for an American media company specializing in North Korea. Thank you for your valuable time today. First question, do you think that not stating your position on the Pyongyang drone case strengthens South Korea's position on inter-Korean relations? Or do you think it's weakening?

And is there anything you want to say to Vice Minister Kim Yo-jong by taking this opportunity? I'm sorry like a Korean test. How do you think the lack of mention of the recent incident in which our drones flew to Pyongyang, which North Korea claimed, affects inter-Korean relations? And I would like to ask you if you have anything to say about the recent series of North Korean statements that borrowed the words of Vice Minister Kim Yo Jong.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / President]
North Korea has already conducted drone strikes on South Korea 10 times by invading the border, and even though I talked to President Trump earlier, GPS jamming to more than 7,000 trash balloons. If GPS is disturbed, it is very difficult for Korean fishing boats to drive ships in the sea. It's because it's not worth responding to each and every one of us to a red-and-red-down forced claim in such a yard.

[Jeong Hyejeon / Spokesperson]
Please understand that I couldn't give everyone a chance due to time. That's it for the press conference. Thank you to both domestic and foreign journalists who joined us and to the people who watched.