WASHINGTON — Rep. Maeng Sung-kyu of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said the party's overall mood suggests it would "likely throw more weight behind Unification Minister Chung Dong-young or National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok than National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac," addressing calls within the party for an overhaul of the government's foreign policy and security team.
Maeng made the remarks on the 12th at a luncheon with Korean correspondents in Washington, held during a parliamentary audit of the South Korean Embassy in the United States. He said, however, that the view was his personal assessment and that the Democratic Party had not formed any internal consensus through a general meeting of lawmakers or policy debates.
Rep. Park Jie-won of the same party had earlier raised the idea of overhauling the foreign policy and security team during a recent broadcast appearance, saying, "This cannot continue. The United States will not back down like this."
At the audit, independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon said, "From what I have gathered, the U.S. side noted at the South Korea-U.S. foreign ministers' meeting held in Washington on the 18th of last month that trust in the intelligence channel between the two countries had been damaged." He then asked whether the U.S. side had also raised concerns about Chung and Lee, and Ambassador Kang replied that there had been "no mention of specific individuals."