Yoo Jeong-bok said, "If we change the system to a major electoral district, we can prevent the power of the parliament."

[YTN radio news fighting, this is Youngsoo Kim]

□ Broadcasting: FM 94.5 (07:15-09:00)
□ Broadcast date and time: January 22, 2025 (Wednesday)
□ Host: Youngsoo Kim Anchor
□ Cast: Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok (phone)

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

[Please clarify that this is the interview of YTN Radio <News Fighting, Kim Young-soo Youngsoo Kim>]]

◆ Youngsoo Kim Anchor (hereinafter referred to as Youngsoo Kim): We will continue with the issue interview. This is connected to Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok's phone, who visited the United States to attend President Trump's inauguration. You're out, right?

◇ Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok (hereinafter referred to as Yoo Jeong-bok): Yes, I am Yoo Jeong-bok.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Yes, Mayor Yoo, what is the time right now?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: It's just past 6 p.m. here.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: I see. The mayor attended President Trump's inauguration as the chairman of the Council of Provincial Governors of the Republic of Korea. What was the atmosphere you felt at the inauguration celebration?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: Yes, due to the extreme cold of minus 16 degrees Celsius this presidential inauguration ceremony, the large-scale outdoor event originally scheduled will be canceled. The Parliament Rotunda Hall had no choice but to be held in the presence of a very small number of 600 people. However, five former and current presidents attended the inauguration ceremony live. Not long ago, I was able to see all the former and incumbent presidents together through the screen at the Carter funeral, and seeing this, I think there were many envies and reflections when looking at the situation in Korea. After that inauguration, I've had celebrations, especially with leaders from around the world at the inauguration ceremony organized by the Rev. Mark Burns, who is known to play a key role in the Trump administration sponsored by The Washington Times.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Oh, I see. The weather was very cold this time, so it was held indoors instead of outdoors. Was it difficult to attend indoors?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: The indoor attendance was very confusing. The original plan was revised, so the weather was cold, so there was some confusion and various complex problems.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: You invited President Trump and Vice President JD Vance to the Incheon Landing Operation event in September, right?

◇ Yes, that's right.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Yes, for what purpose did you invite me?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: Yes, there was an event on September 15th this year to mark the 75th anniversary of the Incheon Landing Operation, so I already conveyed that opinion to the eight participating countries through the ambassador, but this time I came to the United States through Chairman Mark Burns, a close Trump ally, to deliver a letter directly to President Trump and Vice President JD Vance. I delivered the invitation with the message that the Incheon Landing Operation will be a good opportunity in terms of strengthening the Korea-U.S. alliance in terms of maintaining good relations between South Korea and the United States.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: What do you think? How did the answer come back? Do you think President Trump and Vice President JD Vance will come?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: I haven't received an answer yet because it was delivered yesterday.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: I see. I heard that the mayor is going to meet Korean-American Congressman Young Kim and Senator Ted Cruz today.

◇ We've already met.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Have you met? What did you talk about?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: Yes, there's Andy Kim, who is now the first senator of Korean descent. Young Kim, the three-term lawmakers, have been told that they will continue to show deep interest and affection for Korea, strengthen the Korea-U.S. alliance, and work toward a better future-oriented development between the two countries, and that they will be able to overcome the current domestic political situation with concerns. We usually talked about that. I think they're playing an important role. Representative Young Kim is now the chairman of the Indo-Pacific Subcommittee. Therefore, he is expected to play an important role in improving and developing relations with Korea in the future as he is in charge of diplomatic security not only in Korea but also in the Asia-Pacific region.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Yes, but in the case of Representative Young Kim, it was controversial when he said in media interviews that the forces that attempted to weaken the Korea-U.S. alliance led the impeachment. Did you talk about that, too?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: Oh, we don't talk about that much. As far as I know, he expressed his thoughts as a lawmaker. Everyone was interested in the current severe government, especially the emergency martial law and impeachment, and there was no disagreement on the part that the alliance between Korea and the U.S. should be stronger as it overcomes this part in the future.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Yes, President Trump recently referred to South Korea as chaos. When will we issue an official message regarding Korea?

◇ I don't know. It's hard for me to predict that I'm going to issue an official message. Didn't you use the expression "Nuclear Power" yesterday, especially when mentioning the North Korean issue? So, if we talk about this issue with the Strategic Studies Institute in the United States and the Heritage Foundation, the basic position of the United States is that the nuclear power is understood to mean a nuclear power, and this does not seem to mean a nuclear-weapon state in the so-called nuclear-armed state. As for the Korea-U.S. relationship, dialogue with North Korea is now related to North Korea and the U.S., and the Trump administration believes that the Trump administration has a government policy that talks with North Korea but responds after fully understanding the North's intentions without being deceived by the North.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: What do you think? From the first day, President Trump talked about North Korea having nuclear capabilities and said again to the effect that he could meet with Kim Jong-un.

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: Yes, that's the problem. President Trump is open to talks. There is also the possibility of solving the problem through this conversation. However, after that dialogue, we now predict that any specific policy or action will be carried out while adhering to the principles to the extent that the Korea-U.S. relationship is not sufficiently damaged.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: How do you expect your demand for higher defense contributions? They're saying that they're going to increase it 10 times.

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: We're talking about a lot of things about that defense contribution, but you can see that there's actually pressure from the United States. However, as far as I know, President Trump is 10 times more specific than he is now. In the future, considering the importance of Korea and the United States, we believe that these issues can be resolved through mutual consultation rather than unilaterally asserting and pressuring, and we believe that if our politics are normalized, various discussions will take place within the solid framework of the Korea-U.S. alliance.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Yes, sir. Let's move on to domestic political issues. Mayor, what did you think of President Yoon's arrest and the recent invasion of the Western District Court?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: Yes, first of all, it is terrible that the incumbent president is imprisoned and imprisoned, and as a politician, I feel sorry for the people. Our politics is trapped in a very extreme camp logic, and now we believe that our politics should break away from the regional logic and become a politics that only thinks about the people and the country with sincerity. It's a very unfortunate situation.

◆ Mr. Youngsoo Kim: It is a sad situation.

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: I think that the situation where we are too buried in the logic of the camp will eventually lead to national division, and these parts will be a big task for us to solve in the future.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: The power of the four people is now said to have criticized the judiciary for arresting President Yoon and sent a present for the Lunar New Year to conservative YouTubers. How do you evaluate the response of the people's power?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: I don't understand exactly how far and how I sent the Lunar New Year gift, but I've heard such reports, and in the end, I think this controversy stems from the camp logic made by our political circles. Both progressives and conservatives are our people, and as brothers and sisters, I think that such extreme politics should not make our people hate each other. Especially when I come to the U.S. now, I can't help but think that we should become leaders with the ability and sincerity to overcome this global environment at a time when the international situation is changing rapidly and economic and environmental issues are diversifying.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: In the case of the power of the four people, he criticized that the fairness and credibility of the judiciary fell to the ground because an arrest warrant was issued for President Yoon. What about this?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: There's something unprecedented now, and there's something unprecedented about the series of processes leading up to arrest, but it's true that there's a lot of opinions about the legal process and the way this kind of investigation into the former president was done, and it's also true that there's a lot of questions about whether this was the best part.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: I see. In the ruling party, it is time to change the 87-year system, and the constitutional amendment has emerged as a hot topic. The mayor also said that now is the right time to discuss constitutional amendment, so how do you think the power structure reform should be carried out?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: I also think it's time to overcome the problems of the 1987 Constitution. It is a democratization constitution that achieved democratization through a direct system of the people and made Korea an advanced power, but it is true that there is a problem such as the concentration of the winner-takes-all imperial presidency, the power of the privileged parliament, and the centralized culture. So now, we need an institutional mechanism to decentralize presidential power and restrict parliamentary privileges to some extent, and a constitutional amendment to resolve the centralized culture is needed. As the chairman of the Governor's Council of Korea, I especially want to say that the need for a constitutional amendment to strengthen decentralization, and to limit parliamentary power and foster conflict, we need to come up with an institutional solution such as the introduction of a mid-term election relief system or the bicameral system. Isn't our country especially representative of this privileged culture? Isn't there no other country other than Korea that calls the capital a special city? So it's time to normalize this particular cultural, political, and institutional situation. In other words, it is necessary to discuss constitutional amendment to change the system to a true democratic republic for the people, not a special republic in Korea, and I think this is the right time to amend the constitution in this situation, and this is argued not only by the constitution but also by experts from all walks of life. The Council of Provincial Governors of the Republic of Korea is also planning to prepare this constitutional amendment and present it to the public in February.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Oh, I see. It's February. But if this discussion on constitutional amendment proceeds, won't the constitutional amendment take off in earnest only when the Democratic Party of Korea leads and the Democratic Party agrees?

◇ [JEONG WOO] That's right. In the end, shouldn't the National Assembly agree and go through the national consent process? In the end, the most important thing here is that it is necessary to come up with a reasonable plan for the future of the Republic of Korea and to understand and persuade the people, that is, to obtain national consent. That's how I'm judging.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: In the case of the power of the people, there are now fewer than the Democratic Party. So it's going to be hard to speak out properly. There's a voice like this, too.

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: It is a minority in the National Assembly, but in the end, if there is a way for the people to exercise their sovereignty and prevent the centralization of power through the constitutional amendment, the National Assembly will have to consider this if a national agreement or consent is reached. I'm looking at it like this.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Yes, the imperial presidential system needs to be changed, and there are voices that the imperial parliament needs to be reduced. How do you see it?

◇ [JEONG WOO] That's right. Even if you look at the process leading up to the impeachment, there was a big part of the National Assembly's exercise of power, and this is not something that should be left to politicians, but it needs an institutional system in the end. Isn't there a structural problem like this that is causing a considerable gap in the number of lawmakers even if the total vote is less than 5 percent when we hold a general election? In particular, just as the Seoul metropolitan area is in such a situation, if a balanced and harmonious parliament is formed by changing this part to a mid- to large-sized electoral district system, the possibility of preventing any excessive bias in parliamentary power that exerts unwavering power suggests the need for such institutional arrangements, and in some cases, it is time to introduce a bicameral system to adjust and control the confusion of state affairs.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: I see. Yes, as the chairman of the provincial governor's council, do you think it's possible when the ruling and opposition parties must reach an agreement at this time?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: To make it that way, I now have a plan to make this public through experts, constitutional scholars, political scientists, etc., and to join forces with my civic group to inform the public about this and to make the political community respond to the need for work.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: The impeachment trial of President Yoon is now underway. In this regard, there seems to be a little voice from the ruling camp that it should prepare for an early presidential election. How do you see it?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: If impeachment is cited in the Constitutional Court due to the political schedule, under the current constitution, there are parts where another presidential election must be held within two months, so early presidential election is bound to become a reality, right? However, this issue also leaves room for some adjustment of the situation in this area once a constitutional amendment is made, so I think a constitutional amendment is not the immediate thing we need to do.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Yes, sir. I'll give you the last question. He said he would make Incheon City leap into a global TOP10 city. What core strategies do you have?

◇ Yoo Jeong-bok: Yes, isn't Incheon really a representative international city and a potential area that can create the future of Korea? Statistics Korea's data released last year also shows that it is important not only for Incheon but also for the future of Korea because it is the city that has achieved the first economic growth rate, the only large city with a growing population, and the city with sufficient infrastructure to grow into a global city through Incheon Airport. With this in mind, we are now pursuing a very intensive policy for Incheon's global TOP10 city.

◆ Youngsoo Kim: Yes, sir. Thank you for your time today. I spoke by phone with Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, who attended President Trump's inauguration as chairman of the Council of Governors of the Republic of Korea. Thank you very much. Thank you.

◇ Yes, thank you for your hard work. Thank you.