The foreign minister says, “Diplomacy should not be a victim of political strife in any case”
"I don't agree to denigrate Yoon Suk-yeol's presidential trip to Britain, New York and Canada as a 'diplomatic disaster'," said Foreign Minister Park Jin on Sept. 30.
Regarding the unilateral passage of the Democratic Party of Korea's proposal to dismiss the foreign minister the previous day, Park also lamented, "How did our politics come to this point?"
Meeting with reporters earlier in the day, Minister Park said, "I couldn't sleep well at night because I was confused. Diplomacy should not be a victim of political strife in any case. I will do my best in my role without shaking."
Regarding the Democratic Party calling the presidential trip a "diplomatic disaster," Minister Park also refuted it, saying, "I can't agree."
He said, "The British foreign minister visited Korea and said, 'I was truly moved by the president's condolence visit,' and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the border of the Military Demarcation Line yesterday to look around the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.’"
Park then pointed out, "The world is evaluating the Yoon Suk-yeol government's global vision for foreign policy, but only the opposition political party is looking at it from a partisan perspective."
Regarding the dismissal proposal against him, Minister Park said, "I will listen to the opposition party's rebuke for better national interest diplomacy," adding, "I will devote all my abilities and passion to it by using it as a new opportunity."
Earlier, the opposition Democratic Party of Korea passed a proposal to dismiss Minister Park alone while lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party left.
The Justice Party also did not participate in the vote, saying, "This vote will end with a bad skit that not only stops the National Assembly but also politics itself."
Many analysts say that it is not right for the opposition party to blame the foreign minister for the controversy over the President Yoon's remarks made during a trip to New York last week.
Yoon came under fire after he was caught on video appearing to use inappropriate language while talking to aides in New York last week although the recording of Yoon's remarks was not clear due to noise.