People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk said on the 12th that President Lee Jae-myung "seems to have no interests these days other than golf and social media," adding that "not one of the things the public wants to hear ever comes out."
Speaking at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly, Jang took direct aim at allegations that Lee visited a golf course. "President Lee played golf even while navy service members were drowning at sea, and he played golf with his family even when a commercial building collapsed and the lives of elderly people were in danger," he said.
Referring to Lee's past attacks on former President Park Geun-hye's whereabouts during his time as Seongnam mayor, Jang said, "President Lee shouted about the 'seven hours' of the Sewol ferry disaster and called the president's presence at the official residence a dereliction of duty." He then asked, "If the residence was dereliction of duty, is a golf course abandonment of duty?"
"The presidential office says he received reports and gave instructions by phone," Jang said. "Is it possible to receive real-time reports and direct a rescue operation while playing golf? Why is Lee Jae-myung so different from the Lee Jae-myung of yesterday?"
Jang also criticized the president's social media activity. "He plays golf with his family during the day and then stays busy with social media at night," he said. Jang said Lee posted 116 times on social media last month and has already passed 60 posts in little more than 10 days this month.
"The real estate hell is blamed on the previous administration, the comprehensive survey of farmland is blamed on speculators, and the ETF tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix (dubbed 'Samjeonnix' by investors) is not even mentioned," Jang said. "He listens to none of the public's calls for a change in state affairs, says only what he wants to say and scratches the backs of only his own side — what kind of communication is that? Please, instead of communicating with the grass during the day and a smartphone at night, communicate with people who will say hard things to you."
Turning to Lee's remarks that politics and power should be directed toward those at the bottom, Jang said, "The place he actually headed for was not the bottom but a golf course." He added, "There is no golf course in prison, and no smartphone either. I hope he prepares in advance."
Citing the U.S. suspension of intelligence sharing on North Korea and South Korea's exclusion from a Korea-U.S.-Japan meeting on responding to North Korean cyberattacks, Jang said, "The South Korea-U.S. alliance, the most important foundation of our diplomacy, security and economy, is on the verge of collapse." He said, "President Lee cannot tell friend from foe at all," warning that "at this rate, South Korea will not have a single ally left." Jang said, "The root of the problem is ultimately Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok," and demanded their immediate dismissal.