President Lee Jae-myung said today (October 16), "I cannot agree with the argument from some quarters that Cabinet meetings should be held entirely behind closed doors," adding, "Minutes of Cabinet meetings have (already) been made public, and openness is the principle for all administration, including state affairs."

President Lee made the remarks in a post titled "Regarding the Controversy Over Making Cabinet Meetings Public" on X (formerly Twitter) on the same day.

In the post, President Lee addressed recent reports by some media outlets suggesting that concerns were raised over opening Cabinet meetings to the public during a dinner hosted by the prime minister.

President Lee explained, "(In the news reports), aside from one minister saying 'it is difficult due to Cabinet meetings being open to the public,' reports claiming that someone 'recommended keeping them closed' or 'brought up social media' appear to be untrue."

He continued, "Cabinet meetings consist of a public session followed by a separate closed-door session, and matters requiring confidentiality or those that could put Cabinet members in an awkward position are discussed behind closed doors," adding, "Things that cannot be said in the open can be voiced in the closed-door session, and if there are still things that are difficult to say, I encourage them to call or send a message individually."

He also stated, "A good friend is one who offers bitter advice. If a public official carrying out duties entrusted by the people does not point out problems that another official needs to correct, that is an evasion of responsibility stemming from selfishness or a breach of the people's trust," adding, "I am confident that, at least in this administration, there is no Cabinet member who cannot speak up to the president."

At the same time, he said, "The public is seeing for themselves instances where objections are confidently raised against the president's opinions," adding, "I express deep regret over the false claim that opening the meetings is silencing Cabinet members."

He continued, "Open meetings are also an opportunity for ministers to showcase their passion and competence to the public. There are many Cabinet members who make good use of this," dismissing the argument by saying, "'Not being able to speak because it is open' is merely the wish of those who want to prevent meetings from being made public."

President Lee further elaborated, "During public discussions, Cabinet members may feel uncomfortable with the president's questions aimed at fact-checking, but as the minister in charge, it is natural to know one's duties like the back of one's hand," adding, "They may not know detailed figures and the like. That is why I have said several times, 'A minister cannot know everything. Please do not pretend to know if you do not.'"

Meanwhile, President Lee also replied in a separate post on X to a netizen who criticized his post, writing, "Is the Cabinet meeting a place for the president to show off? Is that something to be said by someone who frames friends offering bitter advice as 'Mugeukpa' (irresponsible extremists) and attacks them?"

President Lee said, "While there is some truth to that, misleading the public with far-fetched arguments based on falsehoods for one's own private interests is undesirable."

(Photo: Yonhap News)