Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, meets with Japanese Amb. Koichi Mizushima at his office at the National Assembly in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)
Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, meets with Japanese Amb. Koichi Mizushima at his office at the National Assembly in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s cooperation with the US and Japan potentially weakening under a Democratic Party of Korea presidency has become a new point of attack against Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the main opposition’s most prominent political frontrunner.

In a meeting with Japanese Amb. Koichi Mizushima on Thursday, People Power Party Floor Leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong addressed “concerns” about the close coordination among South Korea, the US and Japan under President Yoon Suk Yeol becoming compromised by the changing political power dynamics here.

“Amid somewhat chaotic domestic political situation, I understand there have been concerns in Japan and the international community that the bilateral relationship between South Korea and Japan, as well as the South Korea-US-Japan trilateral partnership could be deteriorating,” the ruling party floor leader said.

The People Power Party, in earlier statements, pointed out that Lee’s possible rise to power was sparking worries in the US and Japan.

The ruling party in particular cited a Dec. 18 Financial Times piece in which Lee was described as “a leftwing firebrand with criminal convictions for drunk driving, impersonating a prosecutor and making false statements during an election campaign.”

The party also cited a Dec. 23 report by the Congressional Research Service, a research institute of the US Congress, which said while Yoon worked closely with Washington on North Korea, China, Japan and Ukraine, the Democratic Party of Korea tended to pursue a completely different approach.

The prospects of Lee becoming South Korea’s next president were “not at all welcomed” based on some media portrayals and reports out of the US, the PPP said.

In response, the Democratic Party announced it would be holding a foreign press conference on Friday. Rep. Kang Sun-woo, who is overseeing international affairs within the Democratic Party, hit back at the People Power Party saying the ruling party was “distorting” the narratives to present them in a way that is critical of Lee.

Yoon’s approach to foreign relations has been the Democratic Party’s main point of attack against the president and the ruling party.

The first Democratic Party-led bill for impeaching Yoon, which failed to pass, singled out the president’s “anti-China, pro-Japan” policies as a reason for his impeachment.

In the second bill, the Democratic Party took out the paragraphs problematizing Yoon’s foreign policies “hostile toward North Korea, Russia and China” while “lenient toward Japan” following criticism from experts in Washington and elsewhere.

Kang explained at the time that the controversial paragraphs were removed at the direction of Lee, the party’s leader.