President Yoon may ”pass” his first State of the Union speech in 11 years...Opposition party urges him to ”come before the people” = South Korean media

With President Yoon Seok-yeol likely not attending the National Assembly's State of the Nation speech, the opposition party urged him to "fulfill his responsibilities as president."
If he continues to refrain from participating in the State of the Nation Address amid suspicions of interference, friction between the ruling and opposition parties is expected to widen further.
On the 3rd, People Power Party Chairman Joo Kyung-ho held a press conference at the National Assembly and said,
"I think the prime minister will read the budget speech on his behalf," he said, adding, "In the current atmosphere, where the Democratic Party is likely to hold a street speech calling for the president to be impeached, it will be a calm policy speech."
"It is highly likely that this will develop into a political dispute," said Jeong Jin-seok, chief of staff to the Presidential Secretariat, during a parliamentary audit by the steering committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 1st.
"I expect the Prime Minister to deliver a State of the Nation address," he said, referring to the possibility that President Yoon may not attend the State of the Nation address. The State of the Nation address is given when the President attends the National Assembly prior to the budget deliberation and gives an update on the country's financial situation.
In principle, the State of the Union address is delivered by the president, but until the Lee Myung-bak administration, the president delivered it directly in the first year of his term, and after that, the prime minister read it on his behalf.
Since the inauguration of the Park Geun-hye administration, the president has personally delivered a State of the Nation address every year, which had continued for 11 consecutive years until last year. President Yoon also delivered a State of the Nation address in his first and second years in office.
However, after the recording of President Yoon and political broker Myung Tae-gyun was made public, and the conflict between the ruling and opposition parties intensified over the special prosecutor's law for Mrs. Kim Gun-hee, the president was forced to resign in order to avoid political strife.
The presidential office is breaking with tradition in September, the first time since democratization in 1987 that President Yoon has not attended the opening ceremony of the National Assembly.
In response, the opposition party is demanding that he give a policy speech to explain the allegations of interference in the party's nomination process.
"I want him to participate in the State of the Nation speech scheduled for the 4th without alienating the people," said Chang Dae, floor leader, adding, "I want him to speak in front of the people's representatives about how the national budget will be used."
He added, "I hope that the issue of responsibility will not be postponed any further and that all suspicions will be clarified, not just those related to the allegations of interference in the party's nomination process, such as the recordings."
The New Reform Party also said in a statement by a spokesperson on the same day, "If we are worried about conflicts in the National Assembly, the right thing to do is to resolve them through on-site dialogue, and if we are worried about suspicions surrounding the presidential office, the right thing to do is to come forward in front of the public."
"I expect the president to try to solve the mountain of problems we are faced with. No matter how much we try to run away, there is no paradise there," he said.
Some members of the ruling party have also argued that a policy speech should be delivered on the budget proposal.
Former Rep. Yoo said, "The Kim issue is not the whole of national politics. Why is South Korea falling into a black hole because of one Kim?
"In his State of the Nation Address, the president must clarify next year's budget proposal as well as the administration's policies on important national issues and ask for the cooperation of Congress," he said.
Ahn Cheol-soo, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, said, "The sudden drop in approval ratings for former President Park Geun-hye was also the beginning of the crisis," and added, "We need to face up to the essence of the crisis and reconsider President Yoon's original intentions from when she was a prosecutor."
I hope that the president will return to his home country and follow the will of the people," he said, urging the president to apologize.