Lee says that there is 'absolutely no chance' his term will go past June 2030

MEXICO CITY — President Lee Jae Myung reiterated that he will not seek re-election while speaking to the Korean community in Mexico during a state visit on Thursday.

“There is absolutely no chance that I’ll be going past June 2, 2030, so please rest assured if anyone is worried about that,” Lee said at a dinner event with some 150 Korean residents in Mexico City.

June 2030 marks the end of his five-year term, and his remarks were interpreted as a reaffirmation of his intention not to seek re-election through constitutional reform.

In his press conference on Friday, Lee again stated that his presidential term is “clearly limited under the Constitution” and that he has “absolutely no intention of seeking re-election.”

National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik sparked debate over the possibility of Lee’s re-election after he said in July that a constitutional amendment allowing a sitting president’s re-election was ultimately a matter of public opinion and the people’s choice. The main opposition People Power Party has since accused Lee of refusing to rule out another term because he wants to extend his presidency through a constitutional amendment. 

During the dinner with the Korean community in Mexico on Thursday, Lee also laid out his thoughts on reforms, warning, "Moving too fast […] leads to backlash.”

“When pursuing reform, one ought to exercise appropriate restraint along the path being traveled,” he said. “If the situation seems to have changed, there is a tendency to race forward even faster, reflecting a failure to exercise restraint.”

His comments were interpreted as being directed at hard-liners within the ruling camp, including Rhyu Si-min, a former health minister and liberal commentator who recently launched a scathing attack on Lee’s prosecution reform direction, claiming the president “has deceived the public all along."

Lee cited the French Revolution as an example of such a tendency. He also pointed to the 2004 domestic debate over amending or abolishing the National Security Act.

“There was an opportunity to eliminate the clause regarding the ‘praise and incitement’ of the enemy from the National Security Act,” he said. He said that at the time, the ruling and opposition parties had nearly reached an agreement to “remove at least a few of the most problematic provisions, since abolishing the entire act was deemed unrealistic, but someone suddenly objected, asking, ‘Who on earth abolishes only half a law?’”

“As a result, that provision remains in effect, and someone was recently subjected to a search and seizure operation because of it,” Lee added.

Lee appeared to be referring to Rhyu, who, as a first-term lawmaker for the liberal Uri Party in 2004, pushed the “complete abolition” of the National Security Act.

In December 2004, the Uri Party leadership had secured a tentative agreement with former President Park Geun-hye, then-leader of the conservative Grand National Party, to abolish Article 9 of the National Security Act. However, the compromise agreement collapsed within the ruling Uri Party following fierce opposition from hard-liners such as Rhyu, who demanded more.

Lee criticized the behavior of hard-liners within the ruling camp, noting that they “make excessive demands to demonstrate their ideological purity,” which is often all talk that “rarely leads to good results in practice.”

“I believe that it is better to minimize resistance and backlash while achieving tangible, practical results,” he added.

Rhyu, in a YouTube broadcast on Tuesday, criticized Lee’s remark made during a press conference on Sept. 18 that “separating investigation and indictment was the ultimate goal of prosecution reform.” Rhyu claimed that Lee’s prosecution reform was completely different from the Democratic Party’s stance and what the president had initially pledged as a candidate.

Earlier in the day, Lee held a bilateral summit with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and the two leaders agreed to bolster cultural exchange.

“The power of culture is set to grow immensely, and the cultural industry holds as much promise as high-tech sectors,” Lee said regarding his discussions with Sheinbaum. “I proposed that Korea and Mexico collaborate on joint productions, such as dramas, movies or even a fusion of K-pop and Mexican pop.”

“I resolved to transform Korea and became president after promising the people that I would change the world into a place truly fit for living and […] carry out a vast array of specific tasks,” he continued. “Since my time in office is strictly limited, I am devoting every ounce of my energy, down to the very last second, to fulfilling the many promises and projects that I set out to achieve within that window.”

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]