President Lee Jae-myung on the 19th rejected interpretations linking his notion of a "structural majority" to any plan for an engineered political realignment, saying such speculation "makes no sense to me and has no meaning whatsoever." He said the idea was simply about winning the support of a majority of the public, including moderates and reasonable conservatives, and carried no intent to reshuffle political forces by design.
Speaking with reporters over tea at the Chunchugwan press center at the former presidential compound, Lee said, "Politics is ultimately done by the people, so what I mean by proposing a structural majority is widening the field to one that can win the consent of a majority of the public."
"The reform, progressive and democratic camps are fundamentally a minority," he said, citing recent major elections in which the Democratic Party or the broader pro-government bloc failed to secure majority support. Rallying within the camp alone is not enough to win elections, he argued, making it necessary to expand toward moderates and reasonable conservatives.
"I believe the group I belong to is more moral and more oriented toward the public good, but structurally we are a minority," Lee said. "No matter how tightly we band together, if the moderate camp and a certain segment of reasonable conservatives band together on the other side, returning to power is impossible." He added, "We have to move toward a field that moderates and reasonable conservatives agree with. That state of having their consent is a structural majority."
He expressed strong displeasure at readings of the structural majority idea as a blueprint for political realignment. "Can a president just carry out a realignment? It is not as if we can mobilize the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) to beat people up and investigate them, as in the past. The claim that I am trying to engineer a realignment has no validity at all," Lee said. "Pulling a few lawmakers away from the other side is 1988-style realignment," he added. "Doing that would only increase resentment."
He also reaffirmed his inauguration pledge to be a "president for everyone." "The biggest job of a president is unity," Lee said. "If you focus too much on one side just because you represented it, you become an occupier rather than a president." He stressed, "I said I would be a president for everyone. I never said I would be a president for one side."
On his reform agenda, Lee assessed progress positively but acknowledged the need to moderate the pace. "In terms of how much Korean society has changed, I think we have made more progress than planned," he said, while adding, "There are also people pointing out that we are doing too much at once and asking whether we need to slow down."
He noted that as reform tasks pile up, the burden on and resistance from stakeholders can grow. "When there is one reform task, people call it natural; when it becomes two, they turn passive; and by the third, they start asking, 'Do you really have to go this far?'" he said. "The local elections seem to have been a turning point," he added. "With various factors at play, more people are saying we are doing badly rather than well, so shouldn't we moderate the pace?"
Lee also admitted shortcomings in how the reforms were pursued. "My lack of preparation and poor management of the process are the biggest causes," he said. "I reflect that it may have been a kind of overconfidence about carrying out the reform agenda." He continued, "I think there was a strong sense of 'things will change for the better in the end, so please bear with it.' What matters more is persuading, empathizing with and consoling those who stand to lose something, and that was lacking."
He described the tea session with reporters as part of the same self-examination over insufficient communication. "Talking with you today is part of reflecting on whether I have become too detached," Lee said. "I think the biggest cause is me."
He made clear, however, that his approach of communicating directly through social media would not change. "I find it hard to agree with criticism that my way of communicating is frivolous," Lee said, signaling he would continue using social media. "Didn't kings of the past sneak out at night in commoners' clothes to listen to people at back-alley taverns?" he said. "Is a president some great and solemn being? He is a public servant representing the people."
He also described social media as a key channel for communicating directly with the public. "If there had been no social media, would there have been a President Lee Jae-myung? It is like a lifeline," he said. "The air hole that can save you at the last moment is communication with the people."
On delays in filling senior government posts, Lee said he was doing his best to find the right people. Referring to long-vacant positions such as justice minister and commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, he said, "Of all the things I do, personnel appointments seem truly difficult. It may look slow to you, but I am doing my best to find the right candidates."
On the appointment of a special inspector, he said he had instructed aides to look into ways to proceed despite opposition from the opposition party. "I asked for the appointment to be made quickly, but I hear the opposition party is against it," Lee said. "I do wonder whether we should push ahead when the opposition objects, but I told them to look into whether there is any way to do it nonetheless."