SEOUL, South Korea – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ended her two-day visit to Seoul on Thursday, but her non-in-person meeting with the president has led to controversy among South Koreans.
Pelosi is the first sitting speaker to visit South Korea since Dennis Hastert visited Seoul in 2002. She met her counterpart, Kim Jin-pyo, the speaker of the National Assembly, and agreed to support both governments’ efforts to achieving denuclearization and peace on the peninsula under strong deterrence against North Korea.
But public criticism has been hurled at South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol – who skipped a one-on-one meeting with Pelosi because of his summer vacation in his country’s capital, Seoul.
Despite her official visit to Seoul, South Korea’s presidential office has been tight-lipped about the meeting with Pelosi.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., addresses the media after meeting with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo at the National Assembly on August 4, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Kim Min-Hee – Pool/Getty Images)
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The president’s office initially told reporters that the meeting between Yoon and Pelosi had not been arranged because of Yoon’s planned summer vacation. She then suddenly said she was coordinating with Pelosi’s office to arrange a meeting, but then reversed her announcement again, saying there was no coordination between the two offices.
Although Yoon was staying at his home in Seoul, his office finally confirmed on Thursday that the two would have a phone call rather than a face-to-face meeting. The call between the two lasted 40 minutes.
Earlier in the trip, he met with the leaders of Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan before arriving in Seoul. He is also expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday.
South Korea’s new president Yoon Suk-yeol waves after being sworn in as president outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, May 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
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Choi Young-bum, the presidency’s senior public relations secretary, said the decision not to meet with Pelosi was made based on “the national interest.”
However, the official declined to answer further questions from reporters about what “the national interest” referred to in this situation.
The controversy was added to when Pelosi’s delegation arrived at Osan Air Force Base on Wednesday, where a photo showed the absence of Seoul officials welcoming her and the delegation on site.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., far right, talks with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, far left, during their meeting at the National Assembly on Aug. 4, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea. (Kim Min-Hee – Pool/Getty Images)
Choi said Pelosi’s counterpart, the speaker of the National Assembly, should have been in charge of organizing a welcoming ceremony. He also claimed that Pelosi’s office rejected a ceremony because of her delegation’s late-night arrival on Wednesday.
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Pelosi’s office has yet to comment on the controversy stemming from criticism of the South Korean president by many citizens there.
Mitch Shin is a Seoul-based reporter for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @MitchShin5
