[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung, holding his seventh press conference since taking office yesterday (September 18), stated that he has "absolutely no intention of seeking consecutive terms." Regarding the issue of withdrawing indictments in cases related to himself, he requested that the National Assembly remove clauses granting the special counsel the authority to drop charges and focus solely on uncovering the truth.

Reporter Park Ye-rin has our first story.

[Reporter]

Ahead of yesterday's press conference, President Lee Jae-myung included his position on the issue of seeking consecutive terms in his prepared remarks and made an announcement during his opening remarks.

[President Lee Jae-myung: "Taking this opportunity, I would like to state firmly once again. I have absolutely no intention of serving consecutive terms."]

Controversy mounted in July when National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik, who previously served as President Lee's special political adviser, remarked that "the issue of a constitutional amendment allowing consecutive presidential terms is a matter of the people's choice," prompting growing calls from across the political spectrum—outside the pro-Lee faction—demanding that President Lee clearly clarify his stance on the controversy.

The conservative opposition particularly insisted that he must say the five words [in Korean], "I will not seek consecutive terms."

[President Lee Jae-myung: "I regarded demands to promise not to seek consecutive terms as a political offensive intended to create a narrative that I was planning consecutive terms and then gave it up. Nevertheless, (I state firmly once again.)"]

Regarding the withdrawal of indictments in cases involving himself, President Lee said that the core essence was being unnecessarily distorted, and asked that the provision granting authority to dismiss charges be removed from the "Special Counsel Bill on Suspicions of Distorted Indictment" pushed by the Democratic Party.

[President Lee Jae-myung: "Among the special counsel's authorities, please delete provisions concerning the transfer or disposition of existing indicted cases, and please focus solely on uncovering the truth."]

The intent is that the special counsel should strictly focus on fact-finding.

[President Lee Jae-myung: "I believe it is right to uncover the truth through a special counsel regarding cases suspected of malicious investigations and distortion."]

While the possibility of the special counsel directly withdrawing indictments has been set aside, analysts note that the possibility remains that prosecutors could move to drop the charges themselves if the investigation clearly reveals circumstances of distorted indictments.

(Video by Jung Sang-bo, Ha Ryung | Video Editing by Oh Young-taek)